Layne's Adventures

Killing Time

2010-12-06T06:10:00.001-08:00

So, I have 50 minutes or so before I need to go to the other building to proctor an exam for the evening. It has amazed me that this year has passed so quickly, again.

So a brief update.
June/July-Went to Estonia with for a conference and met Mom afterward. I then went on to Austria, Hungary, London, and a stop in Istanbul on the way back.
August-Finalized the September vacation and school started. I had 2 classes of organic chem and 1 class of freshmen. I was blessed with good classes this year.
September-I went to Copenhagen and Reykjavik for the Eid holiday. I could have stayed in Iceland for a very long, long time. When I got back I started teaching spinning classes twice a week. It has been good
October-Continue teaching labs and spinning class. I finalized everything for the November trip and for the December trip.
November-I went to Italy for the Eid holiday. While I was there I took the Praxis 1 test and should be able to find out some of my scores tomorrow. (I could have called and found out my scores on Friday but it would have costed $30 on top of the $170 I had to pay for the exam. I'm waiting.)
December-It is only the 6th but classes are finishing and I'm counting down till when I go home. I leave at 1 am on the 18th to go to Amsterdam for 2 days. Then, on the 20th I fly to Alaska. I'm flying KLM this year so that should be interesting.

Here is what is coming up
January-Come back from home, recover. Start classes and spinning once again.
February/March- Teach and a Spring Break trip to Belgium and Luxembourg. I made Dad's year by telling him I'm going to Brussells. Then he started GIGGLING, like a little girl! Then he said, "You're going to Brussells, Sprout." Every conversation he works something like that in, I don't think he will ever stop.
April-I'm planning on taking a weekend trip to Abu Dhabi to see a friend.
May-Better get things ready to sell and move.
June-finish teaching summer session and head home.

So, I'm excited about moving home but it is going to be a huge change. Not just going back to be a student again or having to pay a lot more money for gas, but to be back in the US. Also, I won't be going to Europe on an extended vacation, that will be strange, especially after these last few years.

Anyway, Merry Christmas. I hope this finds you all well.

Random Thoughts

2010-06-29T05:11:00.000-07:00

So a couple of random thoughts I've had over the last few days.

1. Garbage in, garbage out. If you eat poorly don't expect to feel good.
2. When you start a vacation, and you think you are in shape, or better shape than you were, don't over do it. On Saturday I biked at least 53.5 km, or 33.5 miles, which was a little much for 1 day. My butt didn't hurt (thanks spinning!) but my knees were killing me! I hiked the next day instead of biking.
3. Layne -3, Mosquitoes-7. I don't miss those guys.
4. Mmmmmm, pork.
5. The temp has been a max of 27C, which is fabulous! (look it up folks!)

Gotta go!
Hope all is well with you!

Targets and Quilts

2010-04-21T00:46:00.000-07:00

So the physical fitness instructors offer practice archery time for their students but they let any one shoot. So on Sunday I tried it for the first time. I was a little frustrated at first, until I realized that I was closing the wrong eye. After I started closing the left eye my aim got a lot better. The picture below is from yesterday's practice session. It was my 2nd session and I got 4 in the yellow. Pretty good, if I do say so myself, but I'm still glad I buy my food from the grocery store.
This is a baby quilt for a friend. Another friend and I made it. The good news is that no new fabric had to be shipped over for the quilt so I have a little less here.

Aggie Muster is this evening. I'm hoping to have time to work out between the final exam this afternoon and Muster this evening. We will see what happens.

Victory is Mine!

2010-04-18T02:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the problem with living here is that people don't always act rationally. So, my candy was stolen out of the box that I shipped. This happens here and there isn't anything you can do about it. So, I told the shipping company, Aramex, that since the item didn't make it to me that I would like to be refunded for the amount of shipping that item. Well, after many emails and phone calls I was refunded the cost of shipping the item AND the cost of the item! I won! I won!

Not too much else is going on. I'll be giving finals this week and lab will be done. I'm hoping to get my grading done by the first part of next week so grades can go out.

I bought my ticket to go to Bahrain the end of next month. It was a good deal, assuming that British Airways can fly by the end of next month. It was cheaper to stay 2 nights in a hotel rather than take a different airline and only stay 1 night. CRAZY!!!

I've almost got all the lodging for the summer trip taken care of, only 2 more places to find. I should be able to finish it up this week.

The other good news is that I finally starting to loose weight again. I've lost a total of 52 lbs since last February. I still have a ways to go but I'll get there!

I really wish Jolly Rancher's weren't kosher....

2010-04-11T05:10:00.000-07:00

So, today's latest adventure was to find the ministry of publication to pick up my box from amazon. It was a mix of stuff, nothing big just a bunch of little stuff, and 1 giant bag of Jolly Rancher candy. I got the box and no Jolly Ranchers. Somebody in customs STOLE my Jolly Ranchers! They are halal, like kosher but for Muslims, so I knew they could come in the country fine but they are in the box. Any, I had to pay $50 for shipping! What kind of person steals candy? (Well, someone in Qatari Customs does.) I would have given them some if they asked!

The good news, and that is what I'm trying to focus on, is that the rest of the stuff came through just fine. I can start studying for the Praxis exam. This is exciting so I can start the next phase or the post-Doha part of life.

I also found out that I'll be working the in the research lab this summer. I don't like the research lab, if I did like it I would have a Ph.D. now. I keep telling myself that on June 16, 2011 I'll be on my way out of here. Today, it can't come soon enough.

Tomorrow night seems so far away...

2009-12-15T01:38:00.000-08:00

So, God is good. I have been really worried that my work visa renewal wouldn't be completed before I leave and it was causing me quite a bit of stress. Well, I got my new visa and my passport back yesterday afternoon which means I can come home. Crisis averted.

Then I saw that British Airways is striking over the holidays. I was very worried since that is who I am flying to Seattle, then I saw that they are striking from the 22nd of Dec to the 2nd of January. I fly on the 17th of December and on the 7-9th of January, so hopefully there won't be any problems.

I have quite a bit of stuff to do before I leave but I'm not too worried. All I need are packed bags and that is almost done. I would like to have a few more things taken care of but oh well if they don't!

I will be leaving Wednesday night at 11:55pm and I won't be back in Doha until the 9th of January, YAY!! I won't be blogging from home (no offense, but I would rather play with the dog) so I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Ten days and counting!

2009-12-06T04:25:00.000-08:00

If I were to be really specific it would be 11 days, but I don't like that very much so I stick with the 10 day mark. My plane leaves at 11:55 pm on the 16th, so I do leave on the 16th, I just have the entire day here.

I am working on my to-do list for before I leave. Nothing too exciting, just some things that I want to make sure I get done, like clean out the fridge. So far this is what I have:
1. Clean out fridge
2. Pack suitcase
3. Take out trash
4. Get passport back from HR with new work visa
5. See #4
6. Finish presentation for church and get multiple copies available for presentation
7. Knit Brook a hat out of the red yarn that I dyed
8. Wind into a ball the red yarn that I dyed
9. Do laundry
10. Make mini apple pies for some friends and don't eat the extras
11. Charge all electronics. (This will take a long time, I have 5 iPods, 2 cameras with 2 batteries each, an eReader, a cell phone, and a DS lite. This is a multi-day process.)

Oh, the semester is finished for me. I have to proctor final lecture exams but other than I just have to move and set up a lab.

I hope all is doing well with you.

Cable and Bobble Hat

2009-11-14T23:08:00.000-08:00

I finished a hat for me! This is the Hermione Cable and Bobble hat from the Charmed Knits knitting book. It was an involved pattern but not difficult. I made it out of baby llama from Peru. The brand is Katia, which is Spanish, that I bought on vacation in Estonia and made in Doha, Qatar. It is quite the international hat. I working on a scarf to go with it, not the same pattern but the same type and brand of yarn.

This weekend was not very productive. I did laundry, but it is still in the dryer. I didn't start many projects but I didn't finish any of them either. We have 2 weeks until the Eid Al-Adha holiday so hopefully I can get a lot done over that 4 day weekend.

I am staying in Doha for this upcoming holiday. This will be the longest I have been in Doha without going to work. Normally when I have a long weekend I am anywhere but here. It didn't work this time with a Thursday afternoon lab and trying to conserve money for my Christmas trip.

I hope all is well with you.

I blame it on the bug...

2009-11-08T22:36:00.000-08:00

So just a funny story from last night. I was watching TV and knitting and I saw a bug on the floor of my apartment. So, I grabbed my Raid and sprayed him. I went and read for a while and then I went back to the couch forgetting that I had sprayed Raid on my floor and that makes in slippery. My foot slipped and it went underneath the couch but I didn't fall. So I sat down and looked at my foot and saw that a piece of the nail had been torn off. I removed the piece of nail and then saw that it was bleeding. I walked into the bathroom, got my foot into the bathroom sink to wash it off and then I did something horrible. I looked at my toe. I then started to feel woozy and realized that I was not going to be able to put a band-aid on my toe. So I looked to see if my coworker was home, he wasn't, so I called another friend down the street. She came down and while I'm waiting I'm walking/hobbling back and forth trying to not look at my toe. So she walks in sees me with my box of band-aids and I said, "I need a band-aid on my toe but I can't look at it without being woozy, can you do it?" She did, of course, which is how you know you have good friends, they come down do your house at 10 pm and put a bandage on your toe because you can't. Oh, and yes, I feel very silly about it now.

The other exciting news is that I have reached my latest goal on Weight Watchers. I have lost 15% of my starting weight and I am on track to meet my goal of having lost 50 pounds by Christmas. There is one problem with losing weight and that is clothing. My clothes don't fit any more, but I make them work, so I have to get new ones when I go home at Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, I have 36 days until I leave and 41 days until I'm in Alaska. (I'm going to Oregon first to see my sister's kids, and her too.) I'll be home soon and I can't wait!

I hope you are doing well!

Home again home again, jigity jig

2009-11-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

So, we hoped that we would be able to get off the boat early and have some more time in Venice before we had to get on the plane. Well, we were the last group off the ship so we only had time to get the shuttle to the bus station, get some lunch, and then get to the airport. So we got our bus ticket, found where we needed to be (not easy with 2 large suitcases), and then went in search of lunch, pizza particularly. We found this little place that only required 1 bridge to haul our suitcases up and down so we sat down and ordered. The pepperoni on this pizza was amazing. (So amazing that we asked the waiter if we could buy some from him.) He said yes and wanted to know why we wanted it. I told him that we couldn’t buy anything with pork in it where we lived and, I kid you not, he said “Momma Mia!” It would have made hauling our suitcases over 3 bridges worth it just to hear that from an Italian.

We took the bus back to the airport, only 2€ compared to 13€ for the water bus, and got checked in. My friend frequent flyer on Emirates, who we flew this time, so she gets more weight in her suitcases which was nice because my sandals put me over on weight so they got moved to her suitcase.

We flew to Dubai and then waited for our flight to Doha at 2:45am. About midnight we realized that we weren’t hungry but if we didn’t eat we might be hungry when we got home, so we had McDonalds at midnight.

We got home about 4 am and I went to work at about 11 that morning. I was still sick so it was a short day at work that day. That morning when I got up I went to the kitchen to see if I could find anything to eat and I saw bananas in a bag on the counter. I thought that they were going to be really icky if I had left them out all week and then I looked in the fridge. There was milk and apples, and other stuff too but I was really tired. I realized then that my neighbor had got some food for me so I could have breakfast. How cool is that? It was awesome and I was very thankful that I hadn’t left any food out for the week.

So that was the trip in a condensed version. The next trip on the agenda is home for Christmas. I currently have 46 days until I am in Alaska and 42 days until I am in the US. I am starting to plan next summer's vacation. My interest was peaked about the Austria/Hungarian empire so I am planning on going to Austria, Hungary, and Estonia in July. I would like to go to Croatia next September so that should be interesting and planning will seriously start in February.

Dubrovnik

2009-11-03T23:55:00.000-08:00

I was most excited about this stop, and it was one of the shortest. The walled city has been preserved beautifully preserved, even after the 91-92 war. The city wasn’t cheap but it was interesting and I enjoyed it greatly. You can walk around the entire the wall of the city which is intact. The amount of stuff that got packed into a very small area was amazing. Our guide told us that if we are looking for souvenirs it would be cheaper to go down a block or two south of the main street. My friend and I are walking down the street looking for a shot glass for here, a patch for me, market and a yarn shop is possible. We found everything. I was walking and then I said “YARN!” She said “what?” and then I showed her the find. They didn’t have a lot of yarn but it wasn’t too badly priced and some of it was made in Croatia. I would like to return to Croatia next year for Eid and see what else I can see of the country.

The brown roof tiles are the old ones and the orange ones are the newest.

The city was walled and fortified for protection, we can see where the canon shot would go if fired.

A view of the city from up the way. It is beautiful.

Corfu

2009-11-03T23:53:00.000-08:00

This was a very nice stop that I enjoyed. We got to the Achilleon Palace whose most famous owner was the Hapsburg family. It was a beautiful place and the road up and down demonstrated the skill of the bus driver. I was impressed with his skills turning the bus on hairpin turns as I would have given up. When I told Dad about this he said “it is all about how you set up the turn.” I was still very impressed. We went into the center of the main town and into a Greek Orthodox Church. Very fancy, not at all like the Lutheran Churches I have belonged to or have seen. I would’ve liked to have spent more time walking around here and exploring the island. The island was also very green which was great to see, especially have been in Doha for any period of time.

Athens

2009-11-03T23:36:00.000-08:00

When in Athens, go to the Acropolis. That’s what everyone does and you could tell because the place was packed. Someone said that there were 6 cruise ships in the day I was there. The Acropolis was really neat to see, despite all the people. I also got to see the Olympic stadium from the 1896 games, the home of the Greek Academy of Sciences, and the Greek Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (the guards where miniskirts). We spent a lot of time in traffic on the bus which meant that I got a little motion sick, which wasn’t cool. Athens was just another huge city and I wasn’t too impressed with it and wasn’t sad to leave. Glad I went but I have no desire to go back.

Oh, and I caught a cold.
Miniskirts!

The 1896 Olympic Stadium.

The Acropolis. There were 6 ships in Athens the day I was there and you know everybody wants to go to the Acropolis.

Parthenon, there is a really good documentary about repairing/rebuilding it on Nova which you can watch on hulu.com.

I came, I saw, and I bought a postcard.

Mykanos

2009-11-03T23:30:00.000-08:00

This was the one place that we didn’t have a tour arranged. We were only there a couple hours but it was fun. We went into town and the flood of people made me want to get away from the flow of traffic, so we went up. We went up the side and found a windmill and a wine pressing vat. The vat had been used that year and the leftovers were fermenting a bit so the smell was a little ripe.

Before I got off the boat I had talked to one of the workers about the place and she said that you could get gyros for 2.50€. So we found a small hole-in-the-wall place that had no tourists eating there and ordered. It was yummy. The gyro and a soda was 4€ which was the cheapest meal we found off the ship. I also found some Greek chocolate which was yummy. After dinner we watched the sunset, getting some great photos, and my friend went back to the ship. I wandered my way back and I’m sure I gave some people some laughs. I was on the main tourist street and I went into a store, looked around and then walked out. Well, I turned the wrong direction and then had to turn around again to head back to the boat. It wouldn’t have been so bad but I did this 4 or 5 times within a block area. I finally made my way back to the shuttle to go back to the boat.
The blue doors are to keep the 'evil eye' away from the members of the house. Basically, it is to keep bad things from happening to people in the household, like when we knock on wood.

This is where some people smashed grapes. It was very obvious from the smell that this had happened a while ago

Looking out over the town. Pretty I thought.

Santorini

2009-11-03T23:19:00.000-08:00

This is where we went on the volcano hiking excursion. We took a tender to the island of Santorini and then a local boat to the volcano island. (Visiting Sitka every summer as a kid I always wanted to go on a tender and on this trip I figured out 2 things. The first thing was that if I ever owned/operated a tender I would name it the Chicken Tender. The other thing is that I get sea sick on tenders and that they were not as fun as they would have been when I was a kid.) It was fun to get away from the large masses of people and do some hiking. I think I only saw 2 plants on the whole island but it was still fun. After that we went to the main island and we had about 45 minutes or so there before we had to be back for the tender back to the boat. We took the cable car up to the top of the island and walked around for a little bit. Then we saw that the line for the cable car down was REALLY long so we, well I decided, to walk it. It was 588 steps down but these aren’t nice steps. These are wide steps that are being shared with donkeys and there ‘exhaust.’ This poop made it really slippery and about half-way down my legs decided that this was really stupid. We made it down, with our legs still attached, and got back on the boat. The elevators were so crowded that we had to walk up the 8 flights of stairs to get to lunch. Oh my body felt it the next day.

The stairs with the donkeys, and if you look really close, you can see the poop.

Budda in Greece! I thought this was funny on the volcano island.

Das boat. If you have x-ray vision you can see my room, I had an inside cabin. The yellow stacks are the logo of Coasta Cruise and go back to when the company started by selling/transporting olive oil. They kept the stacks that color to remember. Also, to keep with the olive oil theme they use A TON of it on board on pasta, pizza, veggies, and anything else you can imagine.

The volcano island that I hiked. Small with no vegetation but wonderful examples of sulfur in it natural form (yes this is the nerdy chemist!).

A day at sea

2009-11-03T23:18:00.000-08:00

Our day at sea was fine. It was our chance to sleep in and that was nice. The ship had lots of activities going on so if you were bored it was your own fault. The food onboard was great. (Who knew that the Italian cruise company makes really good pasta?!) The only problem that I had with the food, especially at dinner, was that I didn’t know what it was, but, I wasn’t the only one. One of the dinners on board my friend and I were trying to place this other passenger’s accent. It was difficult but we finally decided he had to have spent a lot of time in Tennessee, and we were right!

I also did arts and crafts on the ship. These were only for adults, and some of the people were real overachievers. Globs of paint suddenly took the form of a floral display. This one gentleman in particular could make anything but that’s ok, none of the other knew how to knit!

The walled city of Urbino

2009-10-28T03:17:00.001-07:00

So the first stop was to the town of Ancona. My friend and I took a tour to the walled city of Urbino, and 1.5 hours each way. It was an interesting drive. We got away from the tourist part of town and got to see some of the country side. It was a very nice change. The town was very pretty and we went into the castle and then to a viewing platform to get panoramic shots of the city.

I realized that I don’t know much about Italian history. I don’t know anything after the Romans (and I don’t know that well either) but it was interesting to learn about some of it. I didn’t realize how powerful the city of Venice was in its heyday.

Venice really doesn't have any cars!

2009-10-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have known for years that Venice doesn’t have any roads in the city it is all canals. I knew this, but really, the only motorized form of transportation for the city are the motor boats. It was weird to not see a car for a few days. Also another form of protection for the city was that there isn’t a straight street anywhere.

So maybe I should start telling you what happened from the beginning. I arrived, with my friend, in Venice at about 2 in the afternoon after flying all night. We didn’t get a lot of sleep but we were functioning. The hotel we stayed at was right off of St. Marcos Square so we just had to get there. So, we got on the water bus, at 13€ each, and started the bus ride through the city. It was a great way to get there because of the route it took and I learned something, I get seasick on small boats. (Not a good thing to find out when confronted with no cars!) So we made it to St. Mark’s square and then proceeded to try and find the hotel. The first problem was that I didn’t know exactly where it was and after walking around for a bit we found it. By the way, St. Mark’s square is crazy busy at any time of day, well, at 730 am it was fine.

So, by the time we got there is was about 5 or so in the evening and we thought it might be best to look for dinner. We wanted pizza. So we asked the front desk where THEY would go for pizza not where the tourists go. We walked that way and crossed the Rialto Bridge. This is one of the major bridges across the Grand Canal and I didn’t realize it was a big deal until I saw all the postcards of it later. We looked for a place and we found a place right on the Grand Canal for pizza. I had ham(J) and mushrooms on mine and it tastes better if you fold it in half. The pizza is a very thin crust and I would have taken a picture of it but then I would have had to stop eating it.

So after our expensive dinner, my portion was about 16€ or $24, we went walking in town. And then it got dark so we figured we should figure out where we were. Finding ourselves on the map took about 10 minutes. Then we walked back to the hotel. It wasn’t very far but since the streets are rather confusing it took about an hour and a half to find our way back. We also found out that businesses close at about 730pm on a Friday night. (There aren’t many locals left in Venice so people leave the town to go home.) We got back to the hotel, cleaned up, and crashed into bed so we could have the fullest day possible the next morning.

The next morning we got up, got European breakfast, and started walking around the city. Took lots and lots of pictures and then found a yarn shop (YAY!) and then went back to the restaurant for another pizza. We got back to our hotel about 1:30 pm, got the bags, and then went to get the boat to take us to the boat.

It was very easy to get on the boat, we dropped out bags off, got our boarding number and waited until with was called. We had to go through about 4,000 security checks before we got on the boat but it worked out ok. Our cabin was much larger than I thought it was going to be. It wasn’t large but we had room for our suitcases, carry-ons, and all the other stuff we carry around. I was pleasantly pleased with the size, especially for the price we paid. The ship was big and confusing. I finally figured out my way around the 6th day which didn’t do me a whole lot of good.

I don't know what this building is, but it was a pretty picture that I took from the cruise ship as we left Venice.

The tide was a little high the day our cruise left which meant that seating at some cafes was limited.

These carts are how things are transported throughout Venice, talk about some strong arms!

Rialto Bridge, with really good pizza off to the left with the red awning.

St. Mark's Square is a major tourist destination in the city, hence all the people.

Mid-October Update

2009-10-14T23:19:00.000-07:00

So, pictures of my last trip are being close to getting done. I just need to go through and actually write the blog entries and pick the pictures that are best.

It has been 3 work weeks since I've been back and I'm ready for Christmas. Mostly, I'm ready to see my family and this week has been difficult. I know that I only have 2 months and 1 day to wait and then I'll be on my way to the States but it seems like a long time.

Work has been busy in the last 3 weeks. I've been grading a mountain of papers, prepping labs, and trying to get unused glassware ready to move to the other building. The last thing hasn't happened but I have great hopes that today it will start. We, as in Chemistry people, want to have the extras moved out of our current location by the time I leave for Christmas Break.

I've been knitting in the last few weeks. I'm trying to get Mom's blanket done BEFORE I get home, we will see if that happens. It is a simple pattern but small needles and skinny yarn make for a LONG project. Only 3 more balls of yarn to knit into it and then it is done. I'm also making another hat for my brother-in-law. I'm using some yarn that I bought in Italy that is different shades of green. I must say, that it is very manly so I hope he likes it.

I am trying to do my budget for the next year so I'm trying to pick out the places that I want to visit next summer. I am leaning toward visiting Austria, Hungary, and Estonia. I am not certain that I'll pick those yet, too many choices and not enough vacation time or vacation budget.

Hope all is going well with you!

The Darn Pink Shirt

2009-09-29T02:57:00.000-07:00

So I have one pink shirt that I bought years ago at Old Navy. Now, I bought it, even though it has pink on it, because it has brown around the collar. I take it on trips with me that way if I need more space I can throw the shirt out and not throw out a shirt I like. This is a great thought but the shirt ALWAYS makes it back! One of my friends thought that I should throw the shirt overboard on my last trip but I decided to see how many places the shirt can go. So far the shirt has gone, and been worn in, the following countries:
1) Qatar
2) US
3) Finland
4) Germany
5) Estonia
6) Latvia
7) Lithuania
8) Poland
9) Italy
10) Greece
11) Croatia
12) United Arab Emirates
13) Czech Republic (I think)

Italy

Greece
Croatia

Not too bad for a shirt that I really don’t like very much. I don’t remember if I took it on the trip to Czech Republic last year, but I’m pretty sure it went. I wonder how many countries it can go to before it gets thrown away in favor of yarn?

So what did you do last weekend?

2009-08-19T02:27:00.000-07:00

I went to Abu Dhabi. My friend was going over and I thought it might be fun to go for the weekend. So, Friday morning I flew out and I returned on Saturday evening. Why did I go to Abu Dhabi? 3 reasons: Ikea, On The Border Mexican Grill, and the swim-up bar at the hotel.

So I few over Friday morning on Etihad Airways, another new one, and got to Abu Dhabi about noon. The flight is only 40 minutes so it isn't far. Since I was only staying 1 night I figured that I didn't need to check a bag. So I used a bag that I got in Helsinki on the 31st of July and rolled up my big red duffel bag inside of it with my clothes and stuff. I had my purse too but I didn't check any luggage (the last time I did that was 7 years ago). So my friend picked me up at the airport and we drove into Abu Dhabi, about 30-40 minutes to the hotel. I wasn't able to check in since my room wasn't ready but i dumped my stuff in my friends room and off to lunch we went. In the hotel was a Chinese and Thai place that we ate at and it was good. Then, we went to IKEA!! We could actually see the sign from the elevator of the hotel, no I couldn't see it from my room. So we went there for a couple of hours.

I bought some organizers and a shelving unit to keep the yarn. I wanted to get some bookshelves for the apartment but I couldn't lift the box that contained the shelves so I figured I might be over on the weight. I had fun. Then we went walking around the mall looking for the True Value Hardware, yes Dad I know you are proud, but we couldn't find it. So we went to the top of the tower in the mall for 'coffee' which means a free ride in the elevator if you get something. I think I would have rather paid for the ride since the drinks came with a 16% service charge and a 20% view charge. It was then that I discovered that I had forgotten to put in a memory card to my camera. So I saved some to the camera, which I don't know how to get out, and went back downstairs to get a new memory card. I found one at Radio Shack.

After that we went to the pool at the hotel. So we "swam" up to the bar, it was so shallow that we could have walked, and I ordered a strawberry daiquiri, which they don't serve on the pool side. So I ordered something else, this lime cucumber drink that was good. After the pool we got dinner and then found where On The Border restaurant is in Dubai. That was day 1.

Day 2. My friend and I met at the beach that morning and we swam for a little bit and then went in. I got cleaned up and put all my stuff into my friend's room and then off to Dubai! We didn't go all the way there, just the the Jumeriah Beach Residence and we ate and ate and ate.... When we left the place I was sing the song "I feel piggy, oh so piggy, with empanadas, and enchiladas, and teas!" Then we drove back to Abu Dhabi and went to the pool.

Finished the pool, went to IKEA one last time and then flew back to Doha. The flight was fine but immigration in Doha was REALLY backed up and it took me an hour and 20 minute to get through passport control. Then home and back to work.

Tallinn-only 1 picture

2009-08-19T01:18:00.000-07:00

So when I went to Tallinn I was there to finish the Occupation and Freedom Museum and because that is where you go to get the boat to Helsinki. Now, when my boss approved the vacation time his comment to a couple co-workers was that he didn't even know where some of the countries were located. One co-worker said that I only visit places that are whiter than I am and so through a couple conversations people at work were call it my Caucasian tour. Well, I found a Caucasian Restaurant! I didn't eat there but I thought it was funny.

Ok, so also on my travels from Poland all the way to Estonia, I needed a red pen. The typos or word errors were everywhere. This one below if my favorite.

I didn't know until this museum that thunder could cause a fire. I guess it is more dangerous that I thought.

Hiiumaa, Estonia-Part 2:AKA Almost Perfect

2009-08-19T01:10:00.001-07:00

A view of the island near where I stayed.

View from 3rd lighthouse.

ME!!! and view from 3rd lighthouse. Yes, the is the only picture of me from the entire trip. I don't trust people with my camera and I don't speak the language.

The itty bitty lighthouse on the reef close to the mainland.

Hiiumaa, Estonia-Part 1:AKA Almost Perfect

2009-08-19T00:45:00.000-07:00

Hiiumaa, is the second largest island off the coast of Estonia. I love this place. I wish i could have stayed longer there but I had a plane to catch. On the Northern side of the island are 3 still working lighthouses that you can go in. The first picture is on the 1st lighthouse I drove to see but I couldn't go up into it because they are closed on Mondays.

This was the 2nd lighthouse I saw and I went to the top of this one. The stairs were very deep, about 12-14 inches each. You could feel the stairs in your thighs by the time you got to the top. The next picture is of the view of the island from the 2nd lighthouse.

This was the third and final lighthouse that I saw. This one is on the northern most tip of the island and is close to the memorial for the ferry than sunk a while ago. They put the memorial there, the ferry was named Estonia, because it is the closest spot in Estonia to the place where it sunk. A tragedy but the lighthouse was really pretty.

There used to be over 400 windmills on the island and now there are only 35 working ones. This is one of them.

Tartu, Estonia

2009-08-19T00:13:00.000-07:00

The last country that I spent time in was Estonia. The first town was Tartu which on the eastern part of the country and is the home to Tartu University, the oldest university in Estonia. The school took over the hill in the town and the first picture is of the old ruined church. Part of it has been restored to a museum or something. I could have climbed to the top of the bell tower but you would have to pay me to go up them.

When I first saw this building I thought the builders really messed up. Then I looked on the map and saw that it is the art museum so it is supposed to be artsy.

This picture is of the Town Hall. You can see the dark clouds behind it and shortly after taking the picture the heaven's opened and it poured. I was dry underneath an umbrella eating dinner. Oh, dinner was interesting. I ordered pepperoni and pepper pizza. The menu said it was sweet peppers, like bell peppers, so I figured it would be ok. Well, I took a big bit of the pizza (I was hungry and it looked really good) but holy jalapeno! A little surprise for the mouth.

So people have asked me what kind of luggage I used on the trip. Well, I used 2 backpacks. I used the backpacking pack, below, and then a school sized backpack. This was the pack before I left Tartu. The roll on the bottom is the duffel bag that the pack travels in on the airplane and rolled up inside of it is a rag rug, a couple table clothes and runner. The top part of the bag is yarn. I forgot to take a picture of the pack before I left Estonia but I'll describe it to you. It started like this and then I added two white laundry style bags of yarn to the sides. Then I bought another rag rug and that was across the front of the bag. The small backpack hung off the front of my body when I was moving locations. The pack started at 8 kg (17.6 lbs) when I left Doha and when I checked in in Helsinki the checked bag was 22.3 kg (49.3 lbs). No wonder I lost 4 pounds on vacation!

Riga-Part 2

2009-08-18T23:57:00.000-07:00

This is the Riga Dome with the 4 largest pipe organ in Europe. I was so excited to see the organ and it was under restoration. I did get to go to a concert here. The concert was a mix of pipe organ, sax, and percussion. I thought it might be a little weird but it was amazing. The organ has over 6000 pipes ranging from 13 mm long to 10 m long (.51 inches long to 32.8 feet long). The organist also let out all the stops so I didn't just hear the music I felt it.

Ok, so I think this picture should be titled 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' or 'Cat Take a Crap.' This was on a lot of tourist stuff and I found it by accident. It is amazing what happens when you just walk around town seeing what you can see.

Riga-Part 1

2009-08-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I left Vilnius to go to Riga, Latvia and I took a bus, a nice bus. I read in the travel book that in the Baltic States buses are the best way to get around rather than trains. It was a nice bus and it was faster than the train and I couldn’t find information about the train service so buses worked. I found the hostel and I wasn’t too impressed with it. It was cheap but I didn’t feel safe there so I stayed 1 night and then found a hotel for the next 2 nights. I spent the few days there just walking around. I went to the Occupation Museum and that was good.

This is the park on the side of Old Town Riga. It is a small park but it was a beautiful place.
So on bridges in Lithuania and Latvia I saw these locks on them. These locks had names and dates carved on them but I didn't know what exactly this was. When I asked a person at the hotel she said that when people get married they put the lock and the bridge and then throw the key in the water. The marriage will last as long as the lock is on the bridge.

This is one of the churches in Riga. The supports are there so the building doesn't fall down, makes me feel good.

The next 2 pictures are views of Riga from the bell tower of one of the churches. They had an easy way to get to the top of the bell tower, an elevator. I appreciated it.

Vilnius-Part 2

2009-08-10T03:22:00.001-07:00

So after I checked in the hostel in Vilnius I just started walking around the old town seeing what I could see. This is from one of the bridges that I crossed to get to the old town from the hostel. Pretty picture, isn't it. I think the bell tower is from St. John's Cathedral but I could be wrong.I saw the amazing Benedictine Cathedral, in brick Gothic style like St. Mary’s in Gdansk, and I walked in there and the right time. I walk in and around the church and then the heavens opened. It was pouring and I didn’t have an umbrella or a raincoat. I stayed in the church for a while until it lightened up and then kept walking. I found a place to eat and then went back to the hostel to wash clothes.

Vilnius-Part I

2009-08-10T03:09:00.000-07:00

I flew to Vilnius from Warsaw on the second Sunday of the vacation. The Vilnius airport is tiny. As we were taxiing in from the runway we past small airplanes, the Cessnas and Cubs (or something like that). It was raining when we got off the plane and the ground crew was taking cover underneath the wing of the airplane. Kind of funny I thought.

So Old Town is mainly where I went so here are the pictures.

Vilnius Cathedral is an amazing white building that just pops out at you.
This is the hill of three crosses, or something like that, that you can climb to the top of the hill to see, I didn’t. Thank God for zoom lenses!

So I climbed to the top of a tower off of the old town, picture of tower is second, and the following picture is a view of the town.

Gdansk-Part 2

2009-08-09T05:18:00.001-07:00

This is the Polish fort where the first shots of WWII were fired. Somebody rebuilt it, either the Poles, the Russians, or the Germans but I don't know. I thought it was pretty cool especially since I enjoy learning about WWII.

Yes, I went on a pirate ship. It was a shuttle service to the mouth of the river. I was on this ship, and I was on the other one that they had too.

Now, I knew that Poland is a Catholic country, but I didn’t know how Catholic. I saw nuns! Lots of nuns were walking around in their nun uniform, a habit, right? I snuck a picture of a few of them.

The inside of the bell tower from St. Mary's Cathedral.

Gdansk-Part 1

2009-08-09T05:06:00.000-07:00

It was supposed to be an 8 hour train ride, it turned into 9.5 hours to go from Krakow to Gdansk. The hostel that I stayed at here was on the river, literally. Technically, my room was in the river. The place is an old converted work boat that used to house workmen that has been refitted as a hostel. Not a bad place and the location was great. This first picture here is a picture of the river from just up the river from where I was staying. Very pretty I thought.
The royal way, don’t ask me what it is, is the heart of the tourist part of town. The statue of Neptune is right by the town hall. Very pretty place and you can’t take a step without seeing someone selling amber. I’ve never been a huge amber fan but I like the stuff here. It was tasteful and pretty and they had it in GREEN!! Yes, green amber does exist and is really pretty. I bought 2 charms for necklaces in green, 2 in traditional, and 1 with both colors.

So I climbed to the top of St. Mary’s Cathedral- a Gothic style brick cathedral- and took pictures of the town. It was 407 steps to the top.

If you look on the river for the white boat that looks long that was where I stayed.
Did I mention it was 407 steps?

2009-08-09T04:55:00.000-07:00

After I finished seeing the first camp I took a short bus to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. This camp was huge and I couldn’t take a picture to really show how large the place is. Many of the buildings here were blown up or burned by the retreating Germans but the outlines of the buildings are still here. You can see the chimneys that fill the field. I walked across this camp and then I walked around 1 side of it, the right side of the picture.

This last picture is of one of the 4 or 5 gas chambers. They are smaller than you would think would be used but comfort was not a concern of the Gestapo or the SS during WWII.

I always thought that if you are to visit one of the concentration camps it would be best to go when it is REALLY hot or REALLY cold. That way some of what the victims went through could be understood but those of us visiting. I picked the hot day. I drank 2-3 liters of water and never had to go to the bathroom. My face, arms, and the back of my neck were all very sunburned. Some of the housing for the prisoners were barns and 4 of them are open so that you could walk around and go inside of them. I couldn't go inside. It was so hot that I took 1 step inside, couldn't breath, and then went right back outside. I was hot, sweaty, tired, thirsty and icky while I was here for 1 day. I was only there for 1 day and not even a whole day. The reflection that it makes someone do....

Krakow, Poland-Part 2

2009-08-09T04:44:00.000-07:00

A local farmer's market in Krakow. I really wanted to buy vegies cause they were so pretty! I didn't because I don't like to eat most of them.The Pharmacy Museum. I was the only person there and they had to turn on the lights so I could go through the Museum. I love personal service!

The second day that I was in Krakow I took the bus to the Polish (duh) town of Oswiecimiu. Most people know this town as the site of the concentration camp Auschwitz. Auschwitz I used to be a Polish army camp and is quite pretty with the trees and brick buildings. This was the work camp and the headquarters of the Gestapo. While many many many people died here is normally wasn’t because of the gas chambers. This camp caused death by working people to death. Many of the bunkers that were used to house prisoners are open as exhibits. They have the suitcases, the human hair, the pots and pans, and other displays of what the victims brought with them to the camp. The camp was smaller than I thought it would be, it didn’t take very long to walk around.

The infamous sign at the entrance of the camp.

A very quiet place, even though it is a big tourist stop.

Krakow, Poland-Part 1

2009-08-09T04:35:00.000-07:00

This section gets 2 parts, one for the first day I was there and then the second, you’ll understand. The first day there I went to Wawel Castle, pronounce the ‘w’ as a ‘v’. I climbed to the top of the bell tower in the church and took some pictures of the town. I also went to the Pharmacy Museum and that was really cool. In fact, it was a major draw for me even going to Krakow.

Ok, so I’m not Catholic but I thought this was cool for Catholics and non-Catholics. This is the place where Pope John Paul II performed his first mass. The late Pope was HUGE in Krakow and it all made sense when I found out that before he became a Cardinal he was the Archbishop of Krakow.

The clock tower is in the center of Old Town Krakow and is a pretty building. I didn’t go to the top, one tower climb per day is good enough for me.

Warsaw, Poland-Part 2

2009-08-09T04:27:00.001-07:00

This is the Palace of Culture and Science and yes I went to the top, in an elevator. This last one was a ‘gift’ from the people of the USSR to the people of Poland for being such a good puppet government. Ok, the last part I added and probably isn’t totally true.

This is at the Warsaw Uprising Museum and was what was left of the Warsaw Castle/Palace after the Germans put down the uprising.

This is Saxon Garden Park on a day that it didn't rain on me. Pretty, isn't it?

Warsaw, Poland-Part 1

2009-08-09T04:17:00.001-07:00

Poland
So, I’m assuming that everyone doesn’t want to see all of the pictures, there are 778 of them. So I figured I would write the events, organized by country, so you can look at the ones you want
So I arrived in Warsaw on Friday the 10th about noon. I had a tight connection at London Heathrow and I made the plane but the bag got to stay longer in the UK. It was delivered later that evening so I had it before I went to bed. I was staying in the city center, a little bit away from old town, but I was close to the transit system so it made it very convenient. The first afternoon I walked around the city center and went to the Saxon Garden Park and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I was reading outside, in the park, and it started to rain. I didn’t have my coat with me so I sat underneath the tree and watched it rain. The tree kept me dry so I was fine. After that I went to a mall to find a backpack since my camera bag was hurting my shoulder.

The next day I went to old town and walked around. I went to Warsaw Castle/Palace. The floors in the Palace are amazing! They were all wood and rebuilt in the 1960s. You could take pictures all over in here which was awesome, especially since I couldn’t do that at the Palace in Krakow.

This is the symbol of the Warsaw Uprising and was also important to the people around the time of the fall of communism. Pretty cool.

An update from the Road-Riga

2009-07-23T04:16:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize that I hadn't posted anything since May, oops. To catch you up since then summer school finished on the 28th of June. It was my first time teaching the class and summer school so that was interesting. Most of the students did ok but some of them didn't realize that yes we do a full semester in 5 weeks. A student who ended up with an F in lab asked me what brought the grade down. After looking at the individuals grades I told the student that getting 0 for 250 points out of 1150 for the class was a great way to fail it. Another student asked me how to pull up the grade. The funny part was that the question was asked completely serious and an how before grades were due. Those students are funny like that, wanting to fix the grade after it is too late.

So on the 9th of July I started my summer vacation. I spent about a week in Poland which I enjoyed but it was very hot. I got sunburned in Krakow which wasn't fun. I spent a couple days in Vilnius, Lithuania and now I'm in Riga, Latvia for 1 more night. Tomorrow morning I'm off to Tartu, Estonia with yet another currency and another language that I don't know. I finally figured out the Polish zloty and then I moved to Lithuanian litas. I started getting a handle on the litas and I'm off to Riga and lats. I'm started to get a hold on them and then I'll be off the the kroon in Estonia. The hardest part about all the money changes is doing the conversions in the city. My lunch today didn't seem like a lot of money, 6.70 Lats, but at $13 it wasn't cheap. This is part of the fun. Estonian kroons are running 11:1 against the dollar so dividing the prices by 10 shouldn't be too difficult.

While I'm having a great time I do miss some things about Doha. They are: my car, my clothes dryer (my pants are only staying up because of the money belt), I know the money, my friends, shawarma, my apartment, and the fact that I have more than 4 shirts there!

Well, when I get back I'll do a more complete post with pictures. I hope all is going well where you are!

May Update

2009-05-12T23:04:00.001-07:00

Well, it never seems that I have a lot happening but I guess things are happening since I stay busy. I haven’t made any more hats but I did finish up 2 more scarves so that has been good. I got a pattern for a lace scarf that I’ve started 3 times and will rip it out again since it isn’t looking right.

The big news around work is that our personal package shipping has been suspended effective immediately. Most people have been very upset about the way we were told and frustrated since we had no notice. They might restart it with the new fiscal year but we don’t know and we won’t know anything until July or even August. I hoping that they figure out something a little faster but I’m not holding my breath.

Other exciting news is that I can get shawarma in the cafeteria at lunch. I know, it doesn’t seem like a lot but it is very exciting. (Shawarmas are like Arabic tacos.) Most places you can only get shawarmas in the evening which is frustrating when you want some for lunch. So my lunch now is a shawarma with no onions, an apple and a banana. Isn’t that healthy? I thought so and I keep reminding myself of that when I look at the ice cream machine and don’t get one.

That is about it. Another 1.5 weeks until summer session starts and then I’ll be very busy. Hope all is going well with you!

A Hat Knitting Machine

2009-05-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

So I like knitting hats, a lot. I've been knitting to give stuff to Lutheran Social Services in Anchorage because my family doesn't need any more but I love making them. From top left to right, waffle hat, Beaufort Hat, Basic Cable Hat. The bottom row is the ski hat with ear flaps, and without ear flaps, and then the knit flat hat.

This is the matching hat with scarf that I also made for LSSA.

I should get back to work. Hope all is going well!

Almost the end of the semester

2009-04-13T22:52:00.000-07:00

I know, 2 posts in one day, isn't that amazing? Not too amazing considering the text for the last post has been written for a while. Life has been busy here but to terribly exciting.

Knitting yesterday was interesting. At about 1:30 pm the person who was going to host cancelled due to illness and about an hour later I volunteered. I did this knowing that no one else had stepped up to host and know that my house was not ready for company. So, I left work at 3 pm and went home to clean/straighten up my house. I got home and started working on the kitchen. My neighbors had come back from vacation the previous night and she came over to bring me some fabric she found for me (which already has a spot to be put in a project). Anyway, I have to get ready for knitting so I tell her what is going on and she says "What can I do to help?" I told her I just needed to clean and she started straightening the living/dining room and working on the floors. The only reason my house was ready for company last night was because of her, THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!! Knitting was fine but a busy time. I am helping 2 people with some projects so that was interesting while trying to make pancakes. Everything turned out well so I am very thankful for that.

So, at the end of February I started Weight Watchers. I am finally trying to do something about being too heavy and it is working. I have lost at least 9 pounds and my clothing is looser. I still have a long, long, long, long way to go but I have taken the first step. I've been exercising more too and that has helped. I know several people on the program so the support that we can give each other has been amazing and really helps when all you want is a pizza with extra toppings and chocolate. I'll keep you posted to how it is going.

Summer trips, ah, my favorite part of the year! I had to make some changes to my summer trip due to visas. I found out that to take the train from Warsaw, Poland to Vilnius, Lithuania you actually travel through Belarus. I would love to go there (Eastern Europe is my thing right now.) but any visas given to US citizens cost $180 and I would have to get the visa while in Poland. A one way plane ticket from Warsaw to Vilnius is $110. I personally think it is a no brainer. So, what that means is that I'll overnight 1 more night in Warsaw so I have to find another place to stay.

Another funny about the summer trip. I was think that I would like to go to the city of Danzig while I'm in Poland. I thought it would be interesting but I couldn't find it in the Lonely Planet book. So I went to google to search for it. I found out the it was officially called the Free City of Danzig and in 1945 control of the city was back in Poland's hands and it reverted back to its Polish name of Gdansk. I had already planned to be there! So that worked out nicely I thought and I'll let you know how the city is in August.

About the title of the post, the semester is almost finished. I have 1 more lab to teach, a review session and then 3 finals to give next week, oh, and lots and lots of grading. I'll be teaching summer school this summer so that will be interesting especially since it is a class I have never taught before.

Anyway, I hope all is going well wherever you are and I hope you had a Happy Easter. Mom asked if the Easter Bunny came to my house this year and I say that he did, just via Fed Ex. :)

Dubai March 2009

2009-04-13T22:30:00.000-07:00

Ok all, here is the information about my trip to Dubai. Sorry this is so late in coming, we have been having some computer problems.
Ok, so here is the summary of the Dubai trip over spring break. It was 4 days/3 nights and rather enjoyable not to have to pack and plan for a long trip.

Day 1-Arrived in Dubai about noon and got to the hotel. The cabbie didn’t know where it was so that was interesting but he found it quite quickly. We, my friend and I, checked in and got lunch at the hotel restaurant before going out. We took a cab to the Creek area and then took the waterbuses to different places. We went to the Diera Covered Souqs and the gold market where I almost bought a necklace. It wasn’t the right size chain and it would have been difficult to replace so I didn’t get it. Then we took a cab to the Mall of the Emirates. (In the movies in New York City the people stand on the side of the road and raise their arm for the taxi to stop, well, it works!) We walked around there for a couple hours, the mall is HUGE, and then got dinner at Chilis and went home. My friend studied for her GRE and I read a book.

Day 2-My friend got up very early to go take the exam, I slept in and went to the pool. It was rather relaxing but it was sprinkling so I stayed underneath the shelter area so I wouldn’t get my knitting, eReader or iPod wet. My friend came back from the test successful and we ate leftovers for lunch and then went to IKEA at the Festival City Mall. My first trip to IKEA was both wonderful and frustrating. There are wonderful things that can be obtained there for reasonable prices that I can’t get it Doha and some of them came home with me. The frustrating part was that I wanted things that I couldn’t fit into my suitcase so they stayed at the store. (This kept my IKEA bill much lower than it would have been otherwise.) We walked around that mall for a while and then we took a cab back to the hotel. We found a shawarma place close to the hotel and we got shawarmas for 4 riyals each, about $1.25. Dinner cost me about $3 that night, I know I’m a big spender, but I budget for it.

Day 3-The liquid water park was at the Atlantis Hotel and was called Aquaventure. It was awesome. We got there earlier than we thought and so walked along the edge of the Palm Island and looked out at the ocean. There was a tour guide there that started talking to us and then gave me a lecture on how it is better to be married than single. We left ASAP. Ok, the water park was smaller than some I’ve been too but it was awesome. I don’t think I left my tube for the first 2 hours. They have ramps that you sit in your tube and get pulled up to the top of the ride so you don’t have to walk. The lazy river isn’t so lazy here, there are lazy parts as well as rapids. I did get cold there because of the wind and the sun hiding behind clouds. I also got a sunburn there too. We left about 6 pm and went back to the hotel and back to the shawarma place for dinner.Day 4-We got moving slowly this morning but it was fine. We got dressed and packed and then went to breakfast. Afterward we went to the airport to store the bags so we could go to the Ski Dubai Snow Park. We got there, bought gloves (I felt very stupid), and went sledding and tubing. Think a solid water park. Oh, on the tubing hill they has an conveyer belt for you so you don’t have to walk up the hill! There is a person at the top who hold the tube so you can get it and then will spin you and get you going. It was fun until some local kids showed up and were very rude and everywhere. We left there about 11:30am and got lunch and went back to the airport. We got back to Doha about 5pm and were home by 6pm.

Weather-In rained and haled in Dubai the first day, and we have sprinkles on day 2 and 3. Nothing in Dubai on the last day but when we were coming home from the airport it was a lightning storm, literally. Crazy weather all over Qatar and UAE that weekend.

Planning for Vacations

2009-03-16T01:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it hasn't been that long since I posted an update but I figured I would do another one. The exciting things to happen have all been dealing with vacations. Next week I go to Dubai for about 3.5 days. It should be fun, I'm going to sleep in, go to a water park, shop at Ikea, and enjoy the fact that I don't live there.

For my vacation in July I made my reservations for flying into Warsaw on July 10th, leave here the night before, and fly back from Helsinki on the 1st of August. I'll be visiting Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and then overnight in Finland. (5 countries, 5 different currencies, and 5 different languages...should be fun) I am working on getting lodging, hostels, for the 9 places I will be. I also need to figure out the whole transportation issue, trains probably won't be used as much this time.

Ok, my score is for my vacation in September. I wanted to go to Greece but wasn't sure where I wanted to go but I knew I didn't want to spend a lot of money. A friend who works at the TAMUQ library wanted to go too and so we are going to take a cruise. We found a cruise through Costa Cruises in and out of Venice, Italy for $625. The cruise is 7 nights and the price is for the cheapest room on board. Neither one of us cared about that because, well, you don't spend time in the room so why pay a lot for it? We will arrive the day before the cruise leaves so we get a day or so in Venice, so sad isn't it?

Rereading this post it seems like all I do is take vacations. Really, that isn't true. I do work, every week from Sunday through Thursday. Work is going well. I am not doing research any longer, I'm working on changing labs.

Hope all is going well.

Eric's Hat

2009-03-01T23:46:00.000-08:00

I know, it is a wonderful picture of me, but don't look at me, look at the hat! I finished it last night and it will soon be sent to my brother-in-law in Oregon. I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I started a scarf that I don't know if I that taken with the pattern, it is pretty but a pain in the butt to knit.

Ok, other news, there really isn't a lot going on. I am trying to get an idea of my summer plans so I can start looking at flights/lodging/transportation. I am still looking at going to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. I'll fly into Prague or Krakow and then out of Helsinki. Helsinki is a must for this trip because then I can get more eye drops. Sad, when part of your vacation planning in around buying eye drops.

Anyway, hope all is going well with you!

Devil Snow, Part II

2009-02-11T21:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was at lunch in the cafeteria, like normal, and I can usually see the road across the street from the cafeteria. Yesterday, I couldn't see the road, just a wall of sand. Then about a minute later the sand reached the cafeteria and it got rather dark in there. It was awesome to watch, not so much to out in there. My sinuses are driving me nuts cause the sand is still blowing.

I am trying to think about what else is going on. I bought my ticket to Dubai next month. I'll go there on a Wednesday and return on Saturday, it over spring break so it I am only going to have to take 1 day off work. I asked my boss for the time off and he asked me "Why are you asking me?" I didn't laugh at him but I did respond saying that since he was my boss that he had to approve the vacation. I think I could have just not showed up for work that day and nobody would have cared.

I have been looking into teaching programs for Alaska this last week. I think the winner is UAS. I looked at UAA and UAF and they aren't flexible at all. UAS will endorse me in both chemistry and math since those are my degrees. I think that would work quite nicely. Also, they will give you in-state tuition after your first 2 semesters as long as you plan on staying in Alaska after you finish.

I hope you are having a good day.

Baby llama scarf

2009-01-29T04:16:00.000-08:00

So I finished this scarf about 1 week ago and currently it is on its way to its new owner, my friend Mary. It is gorgeous, if I do say so myself. I only ripped it out and started over once, pretty good for me.

So, let me tell you about the highlights of the week. I mailed the scarf and my youngest neice's hat back to the states. Two days later I found out that the mailroom considers large envelopes going to the states packages and won't mail them for me. So, another employee of TAMUQ is on his way to the States and will be mailing the stuff when he gets there.

Frustration has been high this week. I have a new group of students, 7 total, that don't understand that I start lab on time. Unfortunetly, they are learning the hard way. I kicked them out of lab this week, they were over the time of the ending of the lab and they would have had plenty of time if they had showed up on time. The young ones will learn soon, I hope.

I have received 2 more Lonely Planet books, Poland and Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. Guess where I'm thinking about going this summer? I would like to go to all of them but I think that money and time is going to be an issue, more on the money side.

I am taking a geology class through Oregon State University this winter term and it is going fine. I am learning quite a bit and enjoying it. Last week was earthquakes and this current week the topic is floods. Next week it is the desert, I am looking forward to that one since that is where I am.

Well, I should do some studying. I hope all is well with you.

bit of an update

2009-01-13T03:39:00.000-08:00

I am finally back. Well, I’ve been back for a while now but I’ll give you a brief update of what I have done over the last few weeks.
Berlin-It was very neat to go there. I flew into one of the Berlin’s airports and then took the bus to the Zoological Garden stop and then walked the 10 minutes to the hotel. I went to a little Christmas Market by the bombed church and got dinner and looked around. The next day I went to Brandenburg Gate. I wasn’t too impressed at first, until I realized I was looking at the back side of the gate. The front is much better than the back of the gate. I saw the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, the TV Tower, more Christmas Markets, and several museums. The sad part was I lost my hat that I knitted and my map. Well, I lost my map several times.
Dresden-A much smaller town and THANK GOD that there was an information person to help me find my hotel. It was a very nice hotel. I went to several Christmas markets there too. One of the oldest/best markets was by the synagogue, I laughed at that and the lady at the desk didn’t understand what I thought was funny. I was cold there too. The wind was blowing and it was snowing/raining so it was cold for a person who has spent the last year in the desert. I went to the Zwinger Museum and saw the Sistine Madonna, pretty cool.
Leipzig-I spent one day there, and 10 minutes the next day. I went to a Stasi Museum, the burial place of Bach, and St Nicholas Church. I had dinner (Saxon rolls of pork with noodles, steamed vegetables and a cream sauce) which was really good. I don’t remember the name of the restaurant but I could find it again.
Frankfurt-Found a great hotel close to the Frankfurt Main Station. I went to another Christmas market and then to the airport.
Flying Home-Not a bad flight, just really long. I watched 3.5 movies from Amsterdam to Seattle. I didn’t sleep at all until I made it to SeaTac. At SeaTac I fell asleep at a gate and they loaded an entire plane which I slept through. I made my flight though.
HOME-It was so good to see everyone. I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted to see but I only missed one or two, I think. I was REALLY good to see my sister’s kids. The kids have grown so much in the past year.
Back to Doha-The flight was long, the stop Frankfurt was good, and the flight back is finished now.

Yum, pie

2008-11-26T21:47:00.000-08:00

Isn't it pretty? I put cinnamon and sugar on top so that is the dark brown. It smelled really good too. Bad thing about a pie, you can't sneak a piece early, people will always know. I taking it for tonight's dinner at a friend's house, tomorrow I will do mashed taters.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Update

2008-11-25T23:02:00.000-08:00

So it has been about 33 days since I posted, sorry. Let me update you on the happenings of the last month.

My classes are finished for the semester. I submitted grades on Thursday of last week for the lab course and for the lecture homework, so I am now finished with that until January. I have been able to make some progress with research in the last week, just a little bit of progress, so that is good.

Vacation starts next week. I have been counting down the days since, well, October. I am looking forward to Germany but I can't wait to get home. It has been almost a year since I've been in Alaska and I miss it more now than ever. Can you give a state a hug? That is what I want to do when I get off the plane.

Oh, bugs. Bugs dominated my week last week. They were these little beetle looking things, similar to a weevil but not, that got in my kitchen. Two cans of RAID and 1 exterminator later they were finally dead. Unfortunately I had to throw out most of my spices, very sad. I ordered some Tupperware brand spice containers from the states, they should be here the day after I leave. I will be stocking up on some spices in the states but most I'll get here.

I hosted the knitting group this week. We had about 8 or 9 ladies at my place and I made breakfast, with help from a friend. I was having a hard time with the pancakes but the carrot cake and cream cheese frosting turned out good. I had to pull out every chair in my place for people to sit.

I am still debt free, which is a big accomplishment for me. I have been listening to financial people to keep my head focused on the goal. I also realized that the vacations that I have planned for next year are going to have to be more limited. I was planning trips to Dubai, Egypt, UK, Poland, and home. I think I am going to eliminate the UK trip and see if I can make those work. The airline tickets are expensive for some of these trips so we will see. I am thinking Dubai for 3 days/2 nights at spring break.

Did I mention I have 9 days until I leave? Oh, so we now get the 8th of December off as well so my vacation hours have been returned to me. I called Lufthansa to see if I could change my flight and leave on the 3rd instead of the 5th. It was going to be a 100 euro change fee PLUS a $503.94 change of ticket fee, I'm staying until the 5th. i was ready to pay the 100 euros, but the ticket fee is just a wee bit too high.

Well, I know this is an exciting post but that is all the exciting stuff that I want to share right now. I'll be home for Christmas on the 14th of December, assuming I make my connection in Amsterdam, and I leave to come back on the 1st of January.

Hope you are doing well.

21 cans of Cambells Cream of Mushroom Soup

2008-10-22T05:50:00.000-07:00

I have 21 cans of cream of mushroom soup. This is a shopping story worth telling. I haven’t been able to find cream of mushroom soup for about 2 months so when I saw it this last weekend I bought 10 can of the reduced fat/low sodium kind, not my favorite but it works. Then I went to another store and found the regular kind there, so I bought another 10 cans (it isn’t like they expire). I used 2 over the week and then a friend who is leaving Doha gave me her extras, so I now have 21 cans in my apartment. Oh, I only have about 4 cans of tune left but I can find that any time.

Work has been busy. TAMUQ (Texas A&M University at Qatar) had our ABET evaluation this last week and we did great but it put me behind. So last week, and the first part of this week was spent playing catch up. I am currently adding ice to cool a reaction until I can put it in the cooler for the evening.

Oh, let me tell you my moments of brilliance on Sunday. So I wrote my quizzes for class, got everything out and I was ready. I gave my quiz to the students and they all did horrible, even my really good students! I told them afterward that they need to be sure to read the procedure I before coming to class. Then one of my students asked what lab we are doing so I told them that looking at the syllabus and knowing what lab is being performed would be very helpful when being prepared to class. I told them that we were doing the Phase Transfer Catalysis lab when then said that wasn’t the experiment listed on the syllabus. Oops, does anyone have a fork for my humble pie? I didn’t read the syllabus and I prepped the wrong lab. So, my awesome students did the catalysis lab and did a really good job. Then, oh yes there is more, I email my students for the next to tell them which lab we were doing. I went home, had dinner, read for a little bit and checked my email. A student emailed and asked “We have lab tomorrow?” I was thinking “OH. MY. GOSH. DON’T THEY KNOW THEIR SCHEDULE!” Until I realized that I didn’t know this student because I emailed the wrong class! I went to bed on Sunday hoping that I would wake up able to repeat the day and do it better.

So in 43 days I will be onto my next vacation. This one will be long, and cold. I finished my wool hat for Germany, my scarf is done, and Leigh is almost finished with my gloves. I should be ok if it isn’t too cold. I don’t know what my next knitting project will be yet, I think hats for my nieces (I already finished one for my nephew.). Oh, about the long part, I will be in the States from the 15th through the 31st of December. I have some things already planned, like doctor appointments, scratching the dog and playing with the nieces and nephew, but I would like to see lots of people when I am home.

Not much else is going on, other than me being a dunderhead. I figure I should start my US shopping list soon. I think I’m just going to go visit Fred Meyers for kicks, well, any store that has a pork section.

More Czech pictures!

2008-10-13T03:22:00.001-07:00

These to men were relaying the cobblestones in the street inside Prague Castle. They were working pretty fast but still had a lot of work to do to finish the street.
We also went to Terezin Concentration Camp. This is the outside of the camp where many of the victims are buried.
Back in Prague in the Jewish Quarter the old Jewish Cemetery. There are about 100,000 people buried here. When they filled up the space the people brought in more dirt for another layer. There are about 12,000 headstone that you can see now in the cemetery.
Konopiste Castle, the last residence of Frans Ferdinand d'Este, was a not a planned stop but a very good stop. We took one of the tours inside and it was very interesting. Frans killed about 275,000 animals while hunting in his life and I think about 274,999 are mounted on the inside walls of the castle.
So navigation was difficult in Prague. Street signs weren't obvious, not that we know the Czech language anyway, but it was difficult. This is Mom and Vickie trying to figure out how to get back into Prague and then how to get back to our apartment. People were very good about giving directions, especially if you drove on the sidewalk.

Prague pictures!

2008-10-13T03:09:00.000-07:00

That is Prague Castle in the background and the Charles' Bridge too. We did walk across it many times. Very pretty and under construction, actually, restoration.
Mom and Vickie at the end of the Charles' Bridge. You can kind of see the bridge vendors off to the right side. That afternoon/evening going home there were tons of people and lots of vendors.
Ah, Mom and Vickie waiting in line at the Prague Castle to use the potty. This one was free, if you could wait that long.
I wanted to make sure that this picture made it onto the blog. We rented an Opal Astra stationwagon and then had to fill it up. This works out to be about $64 (USD), not too bad when you split it 3 ways. Oh, 30.90 Kc/Liter is about $7.09/gallon.

I AM DEBT FREE!!!!

2008-10-13T03:08:00.001-07:00

Ok, this is very exciting. I am debt free. The only loan I have right now is the car loan for my vehicle here which TAMU is covering with the transportation allowance so that is covered. I don’t have any credit card debt or student loan debt. This is an exciting day because I am finally working for me, well, for the next vacation.
Mom should be home now. Mom left on the red eye out of here on Sunday morning 12:25am and should have made it to Alaska 7pm Ak time. I hope the trip wasn’t too aweful. It is a long time on the plane and in airports.
Work is going well. I have 3 more labs to teach for the semester and then I’ll be finished. This semester has flown by so fast. It feels like we just started the semester and now we are about ready to end it. The good news is that I’ll be home for Christmas soon.
Oh, to all of you Canadians, Happy Thanksgiving.

Prague pictures coming soon!

2008-10-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

Prague and the Czech Republic were awesome. Mom and I made it to Qatar on the evening of the 4th and she is currently at home while I am at work. We had a great time and pictures will be posted soon, I'm still in the sorting process for the 629 pictures that I took.

Hope all is going well.

Being Vested and Qatarded

2008-09-16T03:04:00.000-07:00

There are 2 things that I would like to share with you all. The first thing is that I had some good news about my retirement plan for A&M. After 5 years in the system you are considered vested which means that if you choose to remove the money that you have put into retirement you get to keep the matching funds. If you leave before hand you lose all matching funds. This can be a large amount of money lost especially if you only plan on staying 3 years like I do. Then I found out this key piece of information, my time in Texas working as a graduate student counts toward my 5 years. I’m not going to lose the money! This will be about $7,000 in matching funds that will go toward my retirement. How cool is that!

The other thing I wanted to share with all of you a new term. It is Qatarded. Pronounced cu-tard-ed is usually used to describe something in Qatar that is done is a stupid or backward manner. For example, “the road construction here is Qatarded.” It can also be used in a question, for example, “is the process to buy a car here Qatarded?” (The answer is yes to that question.)

Other fun news is that in 10 days I will be in the Frankfurt Airport waiting for Mom and Vickie to magically appear from their loooooong flight. I will be bored to tears after spending 3.5 hours sitting in the airport not being able to read German. I really should pick up some German. I did learn in July that you can go a long ways in Germany with the following 3 words: bitte (please), danke (thanks), and Visa (Hand over your credit card so I can charge a lot in euros). It is amazing that with just those 3 words you can go all over Germany.
Ramadan is over half finished now. It is an adjustment but things aren’t as bad as people say they were going to be. I would like to have water at my desk though.

Hope all is well with you.

Contract

2008-09-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

Well, today I signed my new contract today. This means that I am employed through June of 2010. My new contract goes into effect December 1 and will last through June 30, 2008. If you listen really carefully right now you can hear my parents celebrating and singing "Yes! She's employed!"

Actually, what it really means is that I now have the money, or will soon, to pay for the plane tickets and hotel reservations that I've already booked. Just in case you are wondering I leave Doha for Berlin on December 5, to Alaska on December 14, 2008, and then I return to Doha from the 1-3 of January. On the way back I overnight in Frankfurt so I get to break-up the 4000 hours of flying, coach. I know the amount of sympathy I will get from this statement is, well, nothing, but I have crossed the Atlantic Ocean 3 times but never in coach. I've always had business class. If only there was a conference in Anchorage that would be worth my boss sending me there.

Hope all is well with you.

Ramadan

2008-09-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world of Ramadan! The month of Ramadan started last night at sundown and will continue until the next new moon. All Muslims are fasting during daylight hours, which means from about 4am to 6 pm. What does this mean for me? Well let me tell you.

No restaurants are open during the day for the month, not bad except that means you have to bring lunch or eat at the cafeteria, I don't mind it so much though. I heard that grocery stores aren't open until sun down too, but I have not confirmed that. The other things are not being able to eat or drink in the car, in my office (I have windows), and having students that are especially whiny. One thing that many people have told us is that we should drive in the last hour of daylight. That is when people are rushing to other people's homes to be able to break the fast so the driving is awful. There are more accidents during Ramadan than any other month. So, I am currently sitting at work, waiting for the sun to set so I can go to the knitting group.

I am hungry too. I've been fasting since lunch.

Thank you God for AC!

2008-08-20T05:16:00.000-07:00

So I get the opportunity (must think positive) to take Organic Chemistry, yes again, this semester. Yes, I did have to take it to graduate undergrad but I don't remember anything and since I am teaching the lab this semester I thought it was good. However, the AC wasn't working in the classroom this morning. It was 29C in there, which is almost 85F. It was very hot, enough that I was sweating by the end of class. It took me forever to cool down afterward. The good news was the class was at 8am, not 2pm. That room gets hot anyway, ouch!

Yesterday I bought my plane ticket to fly from Frankfurt to Anchorage over Christmas. I still need to get a ticket to fly from Doha to Frankfurt but I am getting there. I am excited about going home but not about sitting on a plane that long. (Since I am paying for it I am flying coach.) Mom already asked me what I wanted for Christmas, isn't that a bit early?

Classes started this week. I am teaching 2 sections of organic chemistry lab and creating the homework for the organic lecture course. Should be a learning experience for me but I'm not thrilled with going to organic lecture again. I slept through most of the classes the first time I took it so hopefully I can stay awake this time.

Hope all of you are doing well!

There is a Cold Stone in the desert.

2008-08-19T05:59:00.001-07:00

I tried something new today. Cold Stone opened in one of the malls today and a coworker and I went to go try it. Not bad, the workers are funny. However, they don’t have Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and their cookie dough is made from very granulated sugar. The ice cream artist did put caramel on top of the ice cream as well though, so that was good.

Larry the Lizard

2008-08-18T03:12:00.000-07:00

My parents taught me a lot of things when I was a kid. One thing that they failed to teach me was how to catch a lizard. I know we don’t have a lot of lizards in Alaska but still. Learning how to catch a lizard would have been pretty helpful. Before I learn how to do that, let me tell you the story of Larry.

Larry is a little gecko-type lizard that is white and green and may be poisonous. This type of lizard will come into homes to find food, shelter, TV, DVDs, and other forms of entertainment. The other weekend Larry came in my house. I saw him, thought about how to catch him, and then lost him. Since I didn’t see him I figured he went back to his lizard family and I was lizard free. I was wrong; Larry was looking for a home. On Sunday night I was making pink lemonade from knitting and the proceeded to spill an entire pitcher of the sticky stuff down the back of my fridge and onto my floor. I grabbed a bucket and started to dump water on the floor so I could mop it. I dumped some soapy water and saw something wiggling at the other end of the kitchen. IT WAS LARRY!! Trying to drown him, I don’t like freeloaders, I dumped more water on the floor and Larry swam over to and then crawled underneath the stove. So I pushed bucket after bucket of warm, ok hot, water underneath the stove. No Larry.

Well, I figured the floor wasn’t sticky anymore so I went to bed. I got up late the next morning to find out 2 things. The first thing is that the floor was still sticky and something gross and sticky had pooled and dried underneath the front right corner of the fridge. I was late so I figured I would clean it up after work. I got off late from work and didn’t have time to clean it up before people came for knitting. Knitting was fine and then cleaning up I saw something in the goo, IT WAS LARRY!! Not knowing how to clean up a dead lizard I went to bed to deal with it tomorrow. The next night after work I decided, with some advice from some friends, that I should try to scrape Larry of the goo. Well, the goo was too sticky so I figured I would dissolve the goo with water and then sweep dead Larry into the dust pan to through him out. Pretty smart says I. So, I got some soapy Clorox water and poured it on the mess. That wasn’t working so I took a bucket of water, 2 cups of Clorox, and poured it on the mess. That was when I figured out something. LARRY WASN”T DEAD!!! So, I did what any Alaskan would do, I called a friend.

My friend from IT who lives just a little bit down the road was home so I called her and asked her to come catch Larry. Which she did do and I was very grateful. So, that is the story of Larry. Larry is outside, I think, and maybe even alive after being stuck to the floor and drowned in Clorox water.

Next time, I try straight Clorox.

Comments

2008-08-06T23:22:00.001-07:00

Mom has commented a few times about how hard it is to leave comments on my blog, so I have chagned the settings. It is now open to all comments but I will be monitoring them to see which ones get posted. This monitoring will allow me to block comments that aren't in English or other such stuff.

Hope all are doing well.

The kindness of a Qatari

2008-08-05T00:01:00.001-07:00

This blew me away yesterday. Qatari people are not known for being nice when they are in vehicles, or really out of them. They will cut in front of you in line when you are in a store, ride your butt when you are on the road while flashing their lights, you name it, they will do it. Yesterday I went to the Al Meera store, it is convenience store but it has the best deals on stuff. Anyway, I was going to my car, pulled out my keys, put my groceries in and got in the car. I looked behind me to back up and there was a Land Cruiser behind me. The driver, a Qatari, was getting out so I just waited. He walked over by the front of my car, picked a 1 riyal note and gave it to me. He got out of the car to give me back the equivalent of 30 US cents. I was blown away. I still am blown away. What really makes this impressive is that it was REALLY hot and REALLY REALLY humid yesterday, like a sauna, and he got out of the car! Thank you Qatari man, I am blown away by your kindness.

July Pictures

2008-08-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

This is the entrance to the pedestrian area in Munich. This portion of it is known as Karsplatz, or Karl's plaza. This area feeds into Marienplatz and everything in that area.
Me and my Beer. That was about all I drank, I smashed my finger and didn't want any more after that. Also, Beer+vegetable soup isn't as good as you would think. Next time I'll go for the pork.
This is on top of Cannon Hill above Rowlesburg, West Virginia the day of the reunion. Dad came out to see me and so we were the family representatives of the Chuck Shaver family, lots of fun.

My July trip

2008-08-02T23:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it has been a long time since I posted, but that it ok cause I haven’t been near a computer. So let me update the masses.

Munich, Germany- I had a great time here. I was a little frustrated at the railway stations in Frankfurt cause nobody had signs up explaining what was happening. Of course I don’t speak or read German so that wouldn’t have mattered so much. A very nice lady was also on her way to Munich and helped me get there without getting lost or really confused. I did learn that ‘glies’ means track in German, handy piece of information to have when riding the train in Germany. Anyway, found my hotel in Munich and then slept for about 1.5 hours. I didn’t sleep much on the train or plane and was REALLY tired. I then took a 1 hour bus tour of Munich which turned out to be very helpful for planning the rest of my stay. I found my way to Karlsplatz and Marienplatz and did a little bit of shopping, got dinner, and then drug myself back to the hotel. The next morning I just walked around the city taking pictures and enjoying Munich. I had lunch at the Hofbrauhous and then proceeded to smash my figure on a chair in the beer garden (hey, beer gardens are dangerous places.). I wasn’t hungry after that but I had a little more of my soup, pretzel, and beer. I couldn’t finish my beer, it was ½ liter and I know that all of my Sarvela ancestors are turning over in their graves. I went into a cathedral and when I came out it was pouring down rain. I waited in the awning for about 20 minutes with a man from southern part of Eastern Europe who spoke no English. Interesting time there, but when the tourist gets rained on, the tourist will knit. I found a store that had yarn and needles and made it back to my hotel for a nap and some knitting. That evening I went to the Oktoberfest grounds, Julyfest is not so exciting, and then found dinner to repack up stuff for the train back to Frankfurt. The train to Frankfurt left at 5:23am, yes in the morning, and I made it just fine. Then back to the airport and on to Atlanta.

Atlanta, Georgia-I did a lot of shopping and went to a wonderful teacher training. I enjoyed Mexican food, Target, T-mobile, and a bookstore that was closing. Shopping is good in Atlanta and got even better when I found the REI store.

West Virginia-I GOT TO SEE DAD! That was probably the highlight of the trip was having Dad fly out to see me. We went to the Shaver family reunion, I won furthest traveled, and just did a lot of talking and eating and eating and eating…. I was able to see cousins that I hadn’t seen in a very long time which was nice. Dad went home after the reunion weekend and I stayed on for another week. I also managed to get a cold which turned into an upper repertory infection. Before bed and my Great Aunt’s house we would take our pills together, kind of funny. Since I wasn’t feeling well I stayed in the Kingwood area and rested. I found out that Claritin D is my new best friend for flying. I would take pill about 1 hour before landing so my ears would clear.

Back to Doha-I made it back to Doha just fine if not tired. On the plane leaving Doha I sat next to a man who was going to Oregon and we talked about Oregon since my sister is there. When I boarded the plane to go back to Doha from Frankfurt I was sitting next to the same man! Funny funny.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed the brief update, I’ll try to post pictures later today.

He once was lost and now is found.

2008-07-09T04:07:00.000-07:00

GUS IS HOME!!! It turns out that he was found in the middle of the road on Friday and was picked up by a very nice lady. She took him to her house, she has a kennel, contacted her vet for some reason, and then gave him a bath and kept him at home. Dad was calling vet clinics and on the 3rd try the person at the vet told Dad where Gus was. He was a little hungry, he doesn’t like changing food, but he is fine. I am so thankful that he is ok. I got to see him on the web cam so that was good.

I leave tomorrow for vacation so I'm getting ready for that now. I've got a train ticket to Munich and a hotel and a map so I'm set. I have packed up a lot of stuff but still have more to go tonight and then the last minute stuff on Thursday after work. Exciting!

Gus

2008-07-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

As most people know, I am a little bit attached to our dog, Gus. We got him 1 week before I graduated high school and I spent that summer working and playing with the dog. I got a little bit found of the dog (and he got a little bit spoiled). The bad news is that Gus is missing. We think he went after a bear that hanging around our place and he hasn’t come home in 36 hours. Dad went looking for him but couldn’t find any trace of him. He has a few more placed to look tomorrow but it isn’t looking good.

Only a few more days until my next trip. I am excited about that, in fact, I am ready to leave now. Well, give me a few minutes to pack and then I can go.

I need to go check on a reaction in the lab.

Wow, life is exciting, isn't it?

2008-07-02T05:49:00.000-07:00

So I was going to start this post by listing all the exciting things that are happening but there really isn't anything going on. Most people are getting ready to leave on summer vacation or have already left, I am with the former group. I leave in 8 days for a 3 part trip, none of the parts are very long. I am spending next weekend in Munich, Germany and I am excited about that. I really want to change my ticket and leave early but I'm not going to do that. It wouldn't be honest and I don't have it in the budget for this month. Europe isn't cheap to visit.

I have a new toy. It is a Sony eReader for ebooks and I love it. I figured that since I got the stimulus money I should help some economy so I spent most of it on the new toy. It is very handy and nice to have. I have probably spent about 10 hours on it so far and the battery holds the charge nicely. The screen doesn't hurt my eyes either. The interface for buying books is similar to iTunes, dangerous but Continent. (New books are only a click away!)

I am watching my neighbor's dog for about 2 weeks, until I leave next week. It is nice having a dog, but she isn't my Gus. Before my friends left I asked if Rosie, the dog, needed to be let out in the middle of the day. The owner said that I could try but she probably won't go out. One day he went to let her out and she stuck her nose out, sniffed, and would leave the air conditioning. She is lonely but ok.

Anyway, that is all that is exciting for now. Take care!

Devil Snow!

2008-06-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

The picture above is from Wednesday morning on the way to work. Visibility was, as you can see, almost nothing where normally you can see a couple kilometers at least. We are all hoping that the dust will settle down but it does have some benefits. For example, my skin gets exfoliated just walking to the car, ok, not really. It has been less hot that it normally is this time of year so that is good.

Have a good weekend!

The in between times.

2008-06-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

So it is the middle of June and not a whole lot is happening. I was sick last week (trust me, you don’t want to know) but am feeling better now. Work is going fine, I finally got a reaction to work that took about 3 weeks to figure out, now I’ll start working on a different system, the desired (but more expensive) system.

I am currently in between trips right now. I have been back from Finland for over 3 weeks but have another 3.5 weeks until I leave for the US. I am excited about going to the States, but it is a mixed blessing. The good things are that I get to see Dad, attend a teacher training, see extended family, and be in the US for about 2 weeks. The bad thing is that because I am going to the US in July I can’t come back in the US until the 14th of December. This is also a mixed blessing because I think I am going to go to Spain before I go home for Christmas. So, good and bad, but I can’t wait to fly business class again. Economy on British Airways isn’t bad, but business class is so much better when someone else is paying!

The weather has been hot and dusty lately. Before you paint a house you can sand blast it to get dirt and any other particles off the sides, I now know how the house feels. The sand has been blowing like crazy for the last couple of days.

Oh, so I should tell everyone about the communication mix up that happened yesterday. A TAMUQ library worker and I went to a restaurant called Turkey Central last night. This is probably my favorite place in Doha to eat out and it is pretty cheap. So when we went there I ordered a kilogram of chicken kofta (like a chicken sausage without the casing) so I could have a bunch to take home for leftovers. Well, when our food came there was a regular order (I get leftovers on this too but I wanted more) so I asked the waiter. He was confused and then told me that a kilogram of chicken kofta is 40 pieces of meat! I had no idea it was that much, so I asked for a regular order (4 pieces). We paid, got our leftovers and headed to the car. I realized that the bag was a little heavy and somehow I came home with 20 pieces, or ½ kilogram, of meat! This is a lot, 2 pieces with bread and fruit is a decent sized meal. Anyway, today when I get home from work I need to separate it out into single serving sized and then freeze it. The good news is, when I am craving Turkey Central, all I have to do is go to the freezer!

Nothing else exciting has been happening really. I finished a baby quilt for one of my coworkers, I like the way it turned out. I am crocheting away on a few things, but I am almost done with another crochet project. Anyway, I should go look up flights for more trips (just kidding Mom!). I hope all of you have a wonderful day!

Tourism

2008-06-09T02:19:00.000-07:00

I have worked a variety of jobs in tourism. In fact, I can still fold shirts just like I did in the t-shirt shops. But, for all of my folding and dusting and answering stupid questions, THANK GOD I didn't have to dress up in period costume! I guess folding shirts weren't that bad now that I think about it!

My Ode to the Commode

2008-06-09T02:02:00.000-07:00

While I was at the Sea Fortress, Suomenlinna, in Helsinki I found myself rushing to find the closest bathroom available (there weren't a lot of places to hide in the bushes). I found this water closet and stepped inside. I tried to turn around but with my camera bag on I couldn't move without hitting the sides of the stall. So with some quick and very motivated thinking I had to place the camera bage outside the stall with the strap wrapped around my leg. It is the smallest bathroom I have every been in in my life! The tiles that you see in the picture are maybe 6 inches to give you an estmate on size.
This is a picture of the King's Commode at the Turku Castle. (It wasn't on the regular tour.) It doesn't look so bad, in fact, if you put some of the blue foam stuff around the seat it could be one of the best outhouse in Fairbanks!

A little piece of Alaska in Tallinn, Estonia. I think I was the only person who took a picture of the row of outhouses, but how could I resist! I honestly didn't know that the blue was a universal color for an outhouse. I would also like to point out that there is a well worn path to and from the outhouse so somebody is using it.

Actually, this makes me very thankful for the large bathroom that my parents have and the one that I have. Although a well placed bathroom, or water closet, in a time of need is enough to make anyone thankful!

Tallinn, Estonia

2008-06-04T03:15:00.000-07:00

This is Tallinn, Estonia. The first picture looks out over the old town and to the dock and then on to the Gulf of Finland. The second is the Russian Orthodox church in the old town. The third is a portion of the tower wall that used to surround the town. The fourth picture is the town square and the view from where I ate dinner but not when I ate dinner. The final photo is of another church and the tulips in the park. The flowers everywhere were so pretty.

Hunter this one is for you!

2008-06-04T03:11:00.001-07:00

This is by a kid's playground/park in Turku and when I saw it I thought of my nephew, Hunter. This is an area just for driving trucks off road. Actually, Hunter's Dad would like this area as well. I found it when I was on my way to the train station to go back to Helsinki. I think that some Grandparents on the Sarvela side need to think about an addition to the yard!

Turku

2008-06-04T02:57:00.000-07:00

The top photo is of the Handicrafts museum, very cool, and is Turku in about 1827. The second photo is of the river that cuts the town in half and most of the tourist stuff is located on this river. The third picture is of Turku Castle, my first castle ever to be able to visit (beside Disneyland:). The fourth pic is of the flower bed, Abo is the Swedish name of the town, and the red building houses a museum showing what wealthy people's homes were like in contrast to the handicrafts museum. The red building also houses a pharmacy museum with 'old' glassware, I still use some of the glassware on a regular basis. The last picture is from the market and all the flowers that were out. They also sold vegetable and fish in these markets too.

Tampere

2008-06-04T02:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, the top picture is of the cathedral in Tampere that I stayed right across the street from, in fact, when I opened the blinds and looked out the window that is what I saw. The second picture is one of me in front of the Sarvela Market, yes, I made it to the town of Sarvela. The picture after this is of a barn close to Sarvela, I thought the roof was funny. The 4th picture proves that they have moose too, although, I didn't see any. The last picture is looking over the bridge in Tampere on the morning I left. The other days I was there add cloud cover and that is it. Two more set of pics to post!

Helsinki pics

2008-06-04T02:33:00.000-07:00

These pics are from Helsinki. The top left is looking back on the tourist dock, the top right is on Suomenlinna, the Sea Fortress. The vertical picture is from the cathedral in Helsinki with a statue of Czar Alexander II in front. The other two pics are from the Rock Church in Helsinki. It is actually built into the rock and the ceiling, the lower picture, is all copper. More to come

Back from Finland

2008-05-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

I have posted 2 pictures from my trip so far. The top one is me in front of a castle in Turku, Finland on Tuesday. The second picture is me from one of the scenic outlooks in old town Tallinn, Estonia. I had a wonderful time on my trip but am happy to be back where things are cheaper.

Another funny story for everybody. The last hostel that I stayed in was Helsinki’s Eurohostel. It was a very nice place except for 1 thing, the shower. I went to take a shower the first night I was there and was a little perplexed by the shower. On the temperature control is a small red button and then there is a large metal button on a knob beneath it. So after some experimenting I found that when you push the lower knob the water turns on. It drained from right above me and it was about 3C, very cold. I yelped out of the way, which was not very far considering that I am in a 2 inch by 2 inch shower stall, and pushed the shower head away from me. I then figured out that the little red button, that gives you hot water, very important. So I pushed the large button again and pushed the red button and the water was fine. Since I moved the shower head I looked up and by the time my head hit the water the large metal button had popped up and the water shut off. (You know in public bathrooms when you go to wash your hands the metal push faucet that never gives you enough time to rinse your hands? This is its cousin.) So I pushed it again, but forgot to push the red button and once more cold water came out. I finally managed the shower by using one hand to constantly push the buttons and the other to wash. Funny now, but frustrating then.

Another thing that was great about Finland was the pork. I had ham most everyday, sometimes twice a day. In Turku I found a restaurant that was right on the water, had good food, and had live jazz every night. It was a neat place to be in the evening. It was also right across from the hostel that I stayed at so I didn’t have to walk far at night alone (SEE MOM, I was thinking about safety!).

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the long weekend!

Do I have to go back to Doha?

2008-05-18T09:41:00.001-07:00

So I have learned a couple very important things in my travels these last few days. The first thing is that Finland is a beautiful country. It is a lot like Alaska in that it has a lot of the same plants and animals but I can understand the people in Alaska. The other thing that I have learned is that when you have to eliminate something from your diet, like pork, for 5 months, don’t gorge yourself on it. My stomach hasn’t liked that much.

So my first full day in Finland I spent in Helsinki, I love this town, and had a great time. I took tons of pictures but I can’t upload them right now so I’ll do that when I get back to Doha. Shopping has been minimal for a couple reasons. The first reason is that I have to carry everything that I buy and I don’t want to carry that much stuff. (All of my stuff on the way here was 11.3 kg, about 25 pounds.) The other thing is that stuff is expensive here. I got Brook, my sister, her magnet and it was 3.60€, about $6. I am trying to find souvenir stuff for the kids and stuff but am not having much luck.

About bathrooms. Next time you use a restroom in the states marvel at its size. I never knew why Europeans called bathrooms ‘water closets’ until I came here. This is why: the size of the bathroom is the size of a small closet. Tiny. I just had an experience in the bathroom here where I am typing. The lock was broken but it is the type that reminds me of the ones in porta-potties back home. You turn the dial and the ‘lock’ reading becomes red, easy enough. So I get down to the bathroom and I finish and I turn the knob the wrong way, and it won’t turn back all the way. No matter how hard I turn the knob it won’t move. The door is locked! I’m locked inside a bathroom in Tempere, Finland! I start to bang on the door to try and get someone’s attention when I try the door knob, it opens. I was never locked in, oops. If you think about it though, there are worse places to be locked into. At least if you are locked in a bathroom you have running water, in most cases, and you have a place to go to the bathroom.

Tomorrow morning, or early afternoon, I will be off to the town of Turku. It is on the southwestern coast of Finland and is home to a castle. I have always wanted to see a castle so I hope I can get there in the next couple days. I spend 2 nights there and then will go back to Helsinki. This time I will be spending my full day in Tallinn, Estonia, assuming everything works out. I get back to Doha on the 24th of this month so shortly after that I will post pictures on this site.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying where you are.

Rugby and Stuff.

2008-05-12T03:09:00.000-07:00

To all the Moms out there, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! a day late. I know you all think you are good, but my mom is the best. Unfortunately, her youngest daughter isn’t the best and didn’t mail the card until last Sunday (oops). It should get there in about 7-10 days from now. Sorry Mom. (Dad, I’ll try to do better for Father’s Day.)

So Friday night I went with some people from work to a rugby match. I had never been to a rugby match and knew nothing about it. It was fun. It was the Arabian Gulf team against South Korea and I don’t think there was one person from this region on the Gulf team. I think they were all people living here but originally from Germany, South Africa, Australia, and any where else. It was fun. Oh, and it didn’t cost anything to go to. Afterward we took Jeremy, one of my friends from College Station who is here to do research for 2 weeks, to a restaurant called Turkey Central. It was so good. Six people ate Schwarma, hummas and bread, and had water for QR118, about $33. I love the local restaurants here.

Oh, and the second picture that I put up is of a kiosk in one of the malls. Dad always says ‘n stuff, well this place really does have stuff.

Oops, that wasn't expensive, was it?

2008-05-05T04:38:00.001-07:00

In the last 18 hours I have broken a piece of glassware that is in limited supply and had my car battery go dead. The last day has not been wonderful.

Ok, so an update since I last posted. Not a whole lot has been happening here. The new things are pretty simple.
One of my friends from College Station comes in on Thursday night and will be here until the 23rd.
My grades are finished for the semester so no classes until fall.
The lab is almost set up, but I accidentally broke a piece of glassware today so there will be a delay there.
My lab order is for about $10,000 between chemicals and glassware.
I left my lights on in the car yesterday and ran the battery down, another brilliant move.
I can’t go back to the US before the 14th of December for tax purposes.
I leave for Finland in 9 days (and can have pork!).
Now that is exciting! I have my hotel/hostel arrangements made and Mom has started worrying. It was actually pretty funny because I was talking to my sister and she had asked if Mom was nervous about me yet. I think she will be nervous from now until the 14th of December when, God willing, I will be home.

I am enjoying my new car. I am almost at 1200 kilometers on the car, about 750 miles. I have not figured out the gas mileage yet, I know it isn’t great, but gas isn’t expensive here. It costs me about $10 to fill up the car, going to the states this summer is going to suck when having to fill up.

Convocation is happening on campus tomorrow night and a whole bunch of big wigs are coming. I would go to it, but…I don’t want to. I don’t have any students graduating this semester so I don’t feel obligated to go. Next year quite a few will be graduating so I’ll go. I will be ‘missing’ graduation as well. Graduation is on the 15th and I’ll be in Finland, darn.

Anyway, we have a meeting with the president of A&M this afternoon. I don’t remember her name, I think I should figure that out before I go.

Oh, the piece of glassware was only $34.00, not that bad.

Little notes from home

2008-04-10T04:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this week was focused on how incredibly awesome my parents are. This week I got a package, always makes a good day, with Kraft Mac and Cheese, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of tuna, some cold medicine for the neighbors, and fabric. It was just awesome. Then today I got the bulletins from church in with the funnies from Easter Sunday. How awesome is that! The best part about the package and the funnies is the little note that Mom puts in it. I have one, no wait, two notes tacked to my bulletin board at work. I know they took Mom about 2 seconds to write, but I love them.

Another thing I have found about Qatar. Whenever I say I want something and can’t find it here Mom, Aunt Sue, or Brook will send it to me. Either about 2 days before or after it shows up in the mailroom I find it on the shelves in a store here. How unfair is that? I wonder if it will work if I ask for pork?

I am about 5 weeks away from the Finland trip. I am getting very excited. I have some euros ready for when I get off the plane in Helsinki and I have some British pounds for a ham sandwich when I get off the plane in London. I should probably get some more pounds just in case.

Oh, this morning just as I was about to leave for work my neighbor, Jen called me. Thomas, her 2.5 year old, had found a dead lizard in their house. Jen doesn’t like lizards. She looked out her window and saw that I hadn’t left yet and called. I went over, swept it up and put it in the trash. Very easy (Dad you would have been proud, I didn’t even call it icky.) and quick.

Another thing that I found this morning, eggs for QR 23.75. The catch was you had to buy 30 of them, but it was still cheaper than any other way. That is really cheap. Now I need to eat a lot of eggs.

Oh, this last week at church I found that the church has a library! I am allowed 3 books at a time and they have Christian Fiction, my favorite type of books and my favorite price. I haven’t been home much in the evenings this week so I haven’t finished even 1 book. Weird. I have been picking up a girl on campus for church the last few weeks. It gives me the motivation to get out of bed and go and it is repaying those who helped me. In undergrad in Fairbanks someone from the church picked me up every week in the winter. In the summer up there I rode my bike but I really appreciated it. I am glad that I can help out someone else.

I thought of a new quilt to do while I’m over here. I was trying to think of a way to do a quilt that would link everything here together with my trips. I figured I would do the flags of the countries that I visit. This also means that I will have to look at the flag BEFORE I visit the country. I wonder if I can find a paper piecing book on flags? Something else to work on.

Wow, for nothing special happening I sure did find stuff to write about.

my new subie

2008-04-03T03:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, I promised a picture of the car, and it is the top picture. Isn’t it pretty? It is also very dirty. It was nice and clean when I picked it up and by the next morning the car was covered with dust again. Crazy!

The other picture that I posted was some stuff from the wedding that I went to. The flowers were from the table arrangements (yes I had permission to take them). The silver shiny box is what the perfume came in and the pretty little green thing was chocolate. It was very tasty and no, I didn’t save any. It was just a little piece. I think I ate it in front of Mom on the webcam. It wasn’t like I could send any of it home.

Meet my new Subie

2008-04-01T23:34:00.001-07:00

Well, after 3 weeks, and a lot of trips to the bank, I have a new car. Actually, Wells Fargo has a new car and they are letting me drive it. I bought a 2008 Subaru Forester in silver. I’ll put a picture up shortly, when I remember to take one but before Mom and Dad get home from Oregon. The funny things is that it is cheaper, monthly, to buy a car, like mine, rather than rent a car. The rental for a Mistubishi Lancer was $540/month while the car payment is right about $400/month. The car payment is also within my transportation allowance which means that Texas A&M University is paying for my car. Pretty nice, I wish all jobs were like this.

On the way home from the dealership I was so afraid someone was going to hit me. I figured that luck would have it that I would buy a new car and in front of the dealership get hit. Thank God that didn’t happen. I called Mom and Dad in Oregon and they have asked for a picture. Soon, Mom, soon. I also sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to my niece Abby ‘cause she turned 2 yesterday.

The other exciting news is that my travel for July was approved. I’ll be flying into Atlanta and driving about 2 hours north for a teacher training. The training will be very good and I am able to schedule about 2 days in Germany and 10 days in West Virginia to see family. Also, I am flying business class. I’ll be gone from Doha about 18 days, which won’t be a bad thing since yesterday the temperature hit 103°F. In July, that temperature will be the low, not the high. I also will be able to see family, do some shopping, and eat pork again.

On Monday I had to do some creative typing. Last week I accidentally knocked over my bottle of water on my keyboard and this made my ‘7’ and ‘j’ keys not work. I had to design my writing so that a ‘j’ was not needed. Makes it interesting and I’m thankful that I didn’t mess up the ‘e’ key instead. I got a new keyboard and all is well.

I’ve been thinking and tonight will be a Hot Chicken night. There is a food place, restaurant is not the right word, about 5 minutes from the house and I haven’t eaten there all week. I love their food, guess what they serve? Lamb, beef, vegetarian, and, of course, chicken. I love their chicken fried rice. It only costs about QR12 (about $3.33) and it is enough for 2 meals. You can go inside and eat or get it to go and never leave your car.

Well, I should go and make some more chemicals. I just wanted to let everyone know that I now drive a Subie. You know, I think I had better run some errands in the other building, better go drive the car!

Weddings, Spring Break, and a New Car!

2008-03-25T04:46:00.000-07:00

No, I am not getting married. I was invited to a Qatari wedding and oh, my, gosh! I don’t have a lot of fancy clothes (I wore a black skirt from Wal-Mart and a blouse) and boy was I underdressed. I looked presentable but not dressed at the level of the other ladies there. For those of you who are unfamiliar with weddings from this part of the world let me impart all of my wisdom to you (it won’t take too long). A wedding in Qatar is paid for by the groom and his family. EVERYTHING is paid for by the groom’s side. First a dowry is paid to the bride’s family (at least QR100,000 or about $28,000). Then the bride’s dress is handmade for at least QR20000 or about $5500. The groom gives his bride a gift, which is typically the jewelry (necklace, tiara, earrings, bracelet, rings, and whatever else can be bought), and he will also give her a present the morning after the wedding. The ballroom was set up with an elaborate stage with fabric and cushions and a couch, and it was amazing. The tables, I don’t know how many there were because I can’t count that high, were decorated with a tablecloth and a medium size centerpiece. The flower arrangements were not carnations, they were a variety of colors of roses and lilies. I was able to take some home and give them to my next door neighbor. The ‘thank you for coming gift’ from the bride was not mints, it was a bottle of perfume that had the name of the bride and groom on it. I don’t know the name of the perfume, the writing is all in Arabic. Ok, all that I am describing is just for the ladies reception. The men have their own parties (I call them man parties) of which I was not invited. The guess for the cost of the hall rental, stage, and tables was about QR240000, and that doesn’t include the servers, food, or anything else.

When I walked in to the ballroom, a lady had a hand-held metal detector and was checking for cameras. I couldn’t take any pictures, sorry. I walked in and realized that I had never seen the person who invited me without her coverings. She found me very quickly and was an excellent hostess. She introduced me to many of her family members and friends as well as explained what was happening during the reception. Right before the groom came to collect his new wife, my friend went to the restroom. All of a sudden I saw women covering up all over the ballroom. I figured the groom had arrived and then my friend came back and told everyone at our table to cover up the groom was there. There was dancing, not western dancing, which was interesting to watch.

Another thing that I realized from this is that I do actually need a pair of dress shoes. I had to wear my Chaco sandals, which wasn’t exactly appropriate. (These are the same sandals I wear kayaking.) Hopefully I will be able to go to the States this summer and can go to Payless for a cheap pair.

Spring break is here! I don’t actually have any days off but things are more relaxed and I am able to prepare for next week and catch up on other stuff. The professor that I’m doing research for came over the last 2 mornings to help set up his lab area. It was good to get out of the way so when summer hits I can start doing reactions.

Some day some I’ll have a new Subaru. (You were supposed to sing that portion.) Yes, I am buying a 2008 Subaru Forester, no, I am not having leather seats. Mom and Dad helped get the money to secure the loan from the states, and really I mean they ‘gave’ me the money to get the loan. Really, all I have done is call Mom and ask what needs to be done next. Mom and Dad should get all the credit for it. Thanks. I did have to decide which car to buy and get the account information for Mom. I was looking at a Nissan Altima but that was pretty expensive for a non-SUV. Then I went to the Subaru dealership and the Forester is cheaper, not to mention being my dream car. The coolest thing about the whole deal is that the car payments are less than my transportation allowance. Yes, this means I am getting a free car. It is kind of funny/ironic though, Mom did all the work and I get the Subaru. Oh well.

Well, I should get back to work. I came in after lunch today because I had to run errands for the lab so I should get something else done today. I hope everyone had a happy Easter and is doing well.

What happens when you drive too fast in a circle?

2008-03-17T06:07:00.001-07:00

It isn’t rocket science. If you drive too fast around a round-about in a top heavy car you will tip over. I think it seems simple. Coming back to campus from lunch today Marvin and I saw this trailer tipped over. We think it is a water tanker and the driver took the curve too fast and tipped. That has got to make things a bad day.

It has been a while since I have posted anything so here is a little bit to catch everyone up. (I just checked the last blog and wow it has been a while!) Nothing monumental has happened in the last 3 weeks. One of my friends who was here on a 2 month assignment left about 9 days ago. She might be back in a few months on a regular contract but we will see.

I am learning to knit. No requests just yet as I am VERY slow. I like it though. Pretty soon it is going to be really hot, so it will be a nice indoor thing. I got my air conditioning fixed so things will be better on that front.

Not much else is going on. A student invited me to a Qatari wedding this week, it should be a very interesting time. (This wedding is no alcohol by government regulations!)

I hope all is well where you are. I have less than two months now until my next ham sandwich. YES!

Trip to the rocks

2008-02-25T02:19:00.000-08:00

Ok, the first picture in this set is what the research is about, why we went to this set of rocks. The marks, for lack of a better term, are carved into the rocks in all sorts of depths and designs. very interesting and very desolate. We were close to the Emir's palace, in fact we drove right past it, no, we weren't asked in for coffee, go figure. The group of four of us then tried to find the other end of the line of rock carvings. We walked a ways through the desert and we saw 'wild' camels. The camels previously seen were at the livestock market to be sold, these were eating. I didn't get too close because camels are mean and the spit and bite. (It could have been an interesting blog but I didn't feel like having to explain that to the hospital. The last picture of this set is of 'camping' along the coast of the Persian Gulf. Some of these tents are really big and have air conditioners set up. I didn't get to go in the gulf but soon. When we were out there the wind was blowing steady at about 30 mph. It would have been very warm without the wind but the wind made it very comfortable.

$810.55 poorer, but so excited!

2008-02-21T01:37:00.000-08:00

So I got the ok from by boss to leave for a little bit in May. YES! I am planning a trip to Finland and then on the way back I’ll spend 1 night in London. I’m excited about that too. I’m leaving Doha on the red eye on the 14th of May and coming back on the 24th of May. I know it is only 9 days but it will be fun. No, no one is going with me and I’ll be ok. One problem is that I’ll only get one checked bag which really sucks. I don’t really need a second one but I like to have the option. I’ve ordered my backpack from REI and that should be here someday. Things are taking a long time to get here from the support office. I even have the money already saved for the trip. I am still trying to plan out the highlights of the trip but I know I want to visit the town of Sarvela in southern Finland. That part of the trip will be expensive just for the cost of gas there.

I also asked for a trip to do some lab training in July. Boss said he would check and see if there is money available but he liked the idea. I should find out eventually if I get to go to that. I hope so, the school would just have to pay to get me there.

The only problem with trying to travel a lot is to save the money to do it. The money for Finland is already put away but the money for the trip in October to Prague and saving for Christmas trip and possibly a summer trip needs to start, well, yesterday. I know I can do it, it will just take strength not to spend on the “now” things. Come to think of it, with only one checked bag to Finland it isn’t like I’m going to be able to buy a lot of stuff. Although, I might need to put aside money for ham and cheese sandwiches, bacon and other pork products. (You only want what you can’t have.)

The other exciting thing is that I am trying the procedure for a new experiment for one of the teaching labs. I am finally making some headway with it because it needs to be ready for students in less than 6 weeks. And it will still need to undergo some revisions before it is ready for the students. I have a bit of work ahead of me, but that is ok. It will be interesting.

Oh, another project for this weekend. So I have ruined a shirt and a pair of pants since I have been here. So, this weekend I am going to take a lab coat and make it into an apron for lab. I think it will be easy and work very well. If it doesn’t work then I’ll be emailing and talking to Mom to try and get it to work.

New ways to freak out students

2008-02-20T06:07:00.000-08:00

So today I woke up with a sinus headache because the wind was blowing and it has been really dry. Anyway, I'm teaching class and at the end of it I'm trying to answer a student's question when my nose starts to bleed, and I can't get it stopped. I get one of the other instructors to cover my class so I can go to the bathroom and while I am walking down the hall I see some more students. They ask me if I'm ok (I look kind of funny) and I tell them I'm fine, just a nose bleed. I get it stopped in the bathroom and head back to class. The students were a little worried. It was kind of funny I thought.

I thought of something that everyone at home might find interesting. Tonight I need to get a car wash, groceries, web cam, and probably dinner. I'll do it all at the mall. Very nice if you know which mall to go to for all of it. Well, traffic is going to be bad so I had better go.

Camels and fat-butt sheep

2008-02-17T00:44:00.000-08:00

I saw a camel! (No, not the cigarette the animal.) I didn’t realize how big they were! I always thought they were the size of horses, not so much. There lips are so funny! This is at the livestock market which is close to the vegetable market, I guess that way you can get everything for a stew in the same place. Anyway, there were lost of camels, including baby camels, and there were goats and sheep. The other picture is of a fat-tailed sheep, I like the name fat-butt sheep better. The fat in the sheep would be harvested from the animal and rendered into cooking lard, instead of using pig, I guess. This is an expensive process so they don’t do that much of it anymore. Who knew, I thought a sheep was a sheep, I didn’t know that some have fat butts.

Let me see what else is going on, not a whole lot. I got a sewing machine this weekend. It is a lower end Brother machine, not as good as my Kenmore at home, but I think we all have to slum it occasionally. My first project on it is going to be a four patch, just so I can get used to using a different machine, then I don’t know what I’ll do. I also saw a Kitchenaide mixer wannabe and it made me think of the one I have sitting at home, just waiting for me. Someday, I’ll get to use it.

Work-wise things have slowed down a little bit. Oh, this is funny happening but especially for the teachers. My students are required to type everything so they use spell check. Of course, spell check doesn’t find word errors, like “morality” instead of “molarity,” and “shoe” instead of “show,” and “vile” instead of vial.” There have been some other ones but those are my favorites so far.

Finally, before I need to get back to work, thank you to all who did the Valentine Day notes on the ribbon. It was very cool and just reaffirmed the fact that my friends and family back home are the best people ever.

Church

2008-02-15T00:12:00.000-08:00

Everywhere else that I have been, Mexico, Canada, and the US, churches are labeled with their name, denomination affiliation, and maybe even service times on the outside of the building. A lot of churches will have a cross on the outside or something that the building is recognized as a church. That isn't the case here. I have not seen a church that has their name on the outside of the building. There is nothing on the outside of the church that would make it recognizable as a church to another person. Two churches that I know of in Doha meet in villas, large villas, for services. The church that I have attended twice, Grace Fellowship, is the one pictured above. It isn't the best picture, I tried to avoid cars in the picture but I didn't get very far, but it shows what it is like. There are 2 dirt areas that people park, you have to be careful to avoid parking tickets. Also, there are two security guards out front. What a difference half a world makes in churches. I was thinking today about the Anchorage Baptist Temple and how they were fighting the city of Anchorage to be able to put up a larger sign. I don't think that the people here would complain about a sign being too small, do you?

Work is going well. I am not going to work this weekend, something new and different for me. Anyway, keep in touch, I love to get emails about what people are doing.

A fork and a spoon

2008-02-10T07:22:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to dinner at a "restaurant" called Hot Chicken. This was good and cheap food but across from a gas station and some other places. It was a funny time that all you could do was laugh. First, our waiter didn't speak English, or Arabic (not that I speak Arabic), so we didn't know if he got really what we wanted. So, he brought the food (fried chicken, chicken fried rice, chicken noodles with spice, and chicken spring rolls) but he didn't give us any plates. So we asked him for plate, and we did didn't get one. So we asked again and he brought plates. We then asked for silverware, and again we didn't get it. So we asked again, this time acting out the action of using silverware, and we got it. The waiter brought 1 fork and 1 spoon for the three of us. I laughed and we made do with a serving spoon, a fork and a regular spoon. The food was really good but it was funny. The noodles had a spice on them that I don't know what it was, but it was good but very spicy.

Lab is going late again this week. We are almost 30 minutes over lab and I am assuming that it will go even later that this because students are not cleaned up yet. I don't really like staying overtime, but I do enjoy the ability to get comp time for later vacations. The first time you do something you try a lab the way it is written, now I will try it differently next week. How differently, I don't know yet, but it will work out, I am very determined.

New and Old

2008-02-08T23:53:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I finally took my cameras out and got some pictures of more than just my apartment and parking lots. One thing that I have noticed in Doha is the lack of old buildings. Everything new is better than old seems to be the idea here. At Education City all the buildings are new and some buildings are so new they aren't even finished building them yet. Across the street from the TAMUQ building are some dilapidated buildings. I was able, very easily, to crawl through and got this picture through a door frame of the old building looking at the TAMUQ building on the left and the Weill Cornell Medical College on the right. I enjoyed the juxtaposition. They are building something new right next to these buildings so I assume they will be torn down very soon. New and pretty is desired here.

I was talking to one of my good friends in Texas last night and I mentioned something about the driving here, so let me tell everyone. I would rather drive in a snow storm. There are very few street signs anywhere, only on the occasional little street, but there are street names before you come to a round-a-bout. These only help if you know the street name that they are using at that point in the road. Each street has between 80-100 names (just kidding, bust some do have 3 depending on where you are) but they may or may not be on the maps. Since there is so much construction going on roads are opened and closed all the time, maps aren't accurate. I have taken to drawing in things on my map. The drivers here are a different ball game all together. Old cars are few and far between here and SUVs are the norm. I don't think I have seen so many Land Cruisers anywhere before and the people here, in general, tend to think that the more expensive your car is, the more power you have. You get better parking spots; can be ruder on the road, etc. For example, it is not unusual for people to flash their lights at you. This may mean a number of things, including "get out of my way," "hey, I'm right here," and "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" I am beginning to think that the more expensive the car the more the person is trying to compensate for something.

Also, if you, the reader, have any questions about what something is like here in Doha, send the questions to me (or to Mom and Dad and they can forward it to me) and I'll answer it here on the blog. Things are becoming normal to me now so it is harder to think of interesting things for the blog. One last thing for now, thanks to everyone who has emailed me about enjoying reading the blog, it is nice to know that someone beyond family is reading it. Although I am doubting myself about the spelling of words since so many former teachers are reading this.

Mosques

2008-02-04T04:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, these are two pictures taken from different spots in the same parking lot. The first is taken right after we arrived to the souqs, about 5 pm, and mosque on the left is an old mosque, commonly referred to as the pigeon poop mosque because of, well, you know, and the other is what I call the circle mosque. Both are visible in the lower picture taken about 1 hour later. In the top picture you can also see some stores off to the right and those are part of the souqs. This is close to the gold souqs, the tailor souqs, and the fabric souqs.

I am trying to think of things that people think are interesting, and I am not having a lot of luck. I do need to go to the grocery store tonight, but it is just like any other store. The only real difference is the brand of products and the fact that it has Arabic writing on the packages. I am still working on learning to read my numbers and I am slow but I think I got it. Now I need to start working on my letters.

The outside of the apartment.

2008-02-03T01:54:00.000-08:00

So Mom and Dad have been bugging me for a while to send pictures of the outside of the apartment, so here they are. This is taken, obviously, from the street side of the place and the little white car is mine for a little bit longer. The bottom picture has about half of the building, the double doors on the lower part of the building is the entrance in the middle and from there to the left is my appartment. Each apartment in this building takes up about 1/4th of the floor. They are big, and all the buildings look alike.

It is the little stuff, oh, and rug night

2008-01-29T09:04:00.000-08:00

January 29, 2008

Ok, so first I am going to tell you about when I ate shwarma and went rug shopping (well, actually it was looking) and then I'll talk about the little stuff.

So Thursday after work me and 3 other people who work for A&M went out to dinner and then went to look at rugs. I thought I would be back about 8 and I was wrong. Ok, shwarma is like a wrapped burrito. I had chicken and they cut it off this big hunk of meat. They heat it up and then put in lettuce, tomatoes and other stuff that I ate cause it was dark. It was very good. Then we went to the rugs. These are rugs from Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan and were beautiful. They were all handmade by people in those countries and we awesome. Not only did they show us about 75 rugs but they explained what the designs mean, where they came from, and let us walk on them. It was like a History Chanel Special, but better cause you could ask questions and actually touch what they were showing you. They had one rug that was a silk rug and it was huge, it was also over $11,000. Yes, that is in dollars, but it was beautiful.

Ok, now about the little stuff. Yesterday I picked up the latest box that Mom and Dad sent. When I talked to Mom I had mentioned that I couldn't find Kraft Mac'n cheese and some other stuff. I opened the box and there it was. It is like a little touch of home in Doha.

Last night I had dinner with a family across the street and told Jennifer that I couldn't find thyme. Today I came home and there was a bottle on my doorstep. It's the little things that just make me so thankful for the people I meet and that I am family to. Mom sent am email telling me how people ask about me at church and that feels pretty good too that people remember you. I remember you all too. Thank you.

Time is a bit faster here.

2008-01-24T04:34:00.000-08:00

January 24, 2008

I told mom about the clocks and she said that it would be an interesting post, so here it is. Before I left Alaska I was trying to figure out what sort of current is used here. I had read that both 220v and 240v were used but I didn't think it could be both. Well, I was right, it isn't both. The electrical plugs here, most of them, are the two circle prongs. Some are thicker than others so you have to get an adaptor for it to work in my UK style outlets. The electronics run on 220V but the current is actually 240V. What does this actually mean? Well, I Saturday night I set my clock at the time that is on my computer so I can get up at 6:50 am. By Thursday morning my clock still says 6:50am when it goes off but it is actually about 6:35am. The higher current makes the clocks run faster. Kind of funny I think, but also kind of annoying. Any clock that is plugged into a wall socket has to be reset every once in a while.

No thyme! but lots of stuff.

2008-01-20T00:28:00.000-08:00

January 20, 2008

Ok, so I spent some time at the grocery store yesterday looking at spices. This is why, I can't find any chicken broth and the only chicken stock cubes I can find have everything written in Arabic, except the words "Chicken Stock." Anyway, so this is what I found out about spices, they are much cheaper here. So, the spice ailse is about the length of the ailse at a grocercy store, like Fred Meyers, and those whole side is full of spices. They also have bulk spices, too, but they don't have a lot of labels. Anyway, so I was looking for Basil, thyme, oregano, and bay leaves, oh, and parsley. I got a ton of bay leaves for about $2 in a jar no less, a large bit of basil for $1.50, parsley ws cheap too. Oregano was cheap, but more difficult to find. Not all of the brands stocked oregano and none of them had thyme. I did find large jars of garlic powder and none of onion powder. I also found jars of spices that I had never seen before and have no idea what to do with. Also, finding tomato sauce is a bit harder than I thought. The store only had one little spot of sauce but tons of tomato paste.

Another note is that I got the stuff that I sent from home on Thursday afternoon. It is wonderful to have book, some DVDs, and the rest of my clothes. It was like Christmas, but much cheaper. The bad news is that my film camera SLR made the trip but it doesn't work now so I'm dealing with the moving company on that one. I haven't tested my computer yet cause I am scared of the result.

Another developement this week is that I won't be getting paid until the 1st of February. At first I was a little miffed because there are some things that I would like to get for my apartment, but now I think this is a good thing. Instead of running out a spending money on what I want I am now forced to think about everything I would like to get and I can prioritize it. (Mom is jumping up and down at such a reasponsible statement coming from me!)

Oh, last night I made chili for dinner. I think it is more of an international dinner, the meat was from New Zealand, the corn from the Uk, the beans from UAE, and the prepackaged spices and sauce from the US. It was really tasty too.

2008-01-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

This is an example of the money here. It also comes in 5, 100, and 500 Riyal notes.

2008-01-17T03:20:00.000-08:00

January 17, 2008

It doesn't feel like January outside. It feels like late May. Oh well, at least it stopped raining for the year. Yes, it rained for about 1 week. It was cold and windy and if anyone had told me to bring warm clothes because you are going to need them in the dessert, I would have laughed.

Ok, so I titled this blog lecturing. after being in the country for about 2 weeks I taught my first lecture class. I am filling in for a proffessor until he gets back and so on week 2 of work I was teaching class. I think it went pretty well. I could have done better, but overall it wasn't bad. I wasn't able to get nearly as far as I wanted to get this time, but doesn't that always happen? When I was talking to Mom a couple days ago she pointed out that no community college wanted to give me a chance teaching lecture and here I got the chance in the first 2 weeks. Granted, this isn't my own class, I won't have it for the entire semester but it is a start. Hopefully, if I stay here long enough, they will give me my own class so I can get some experience.

This summer they are talking about offering second semester general chemistry class. I would love to teach the lecture, but I don't think that will happen. I'll teach the lab though. It will be an 8 week course so that might mean I will have to adjust my summer travel plans.

Anyway, everything is going fine here so far. I went grocery shopping last night and that took a long time. First you have to find where the item is located and then find out what brands are available. If there aren't any familar brands then you start looking arround the packaged, i.e. the Arabic script, to find out what it is. For example, when buying milk you have to look at the color of cap, this tells you whole, 2%, or skim, and you must look at the label. If the label says fresh leban, put it back and look for fresh milk. Leban, as I have told, is camel's milk. Anyway, doing that over and over, it took me 1.5 hours to get groceries. Crazy. I got more of the really good flat bread. So good.

Fabric Souqs

2008-01-13T05:51:00.000-08:00

January 13, 2008

I visited the fabric souqs on Saturday. WOW! The colors of fabric are amazing. This is what I have figured out. The souqs are in 2 different buildings, one building is very nice and new, the other is old and has more...character. I would guess about 99.9% of the fabric is on rolls and not on bolts. Some fabric is made for a specific purpose and you have to buy the whole unit (think of it as a panel). I saw lots of fabric with lots of shiny stuff on it. The amount of fabric that could be crammed into the shops was amazing. It was almost overwhelming. The quality of cotton that I found was not very good. Very thin, but then it was also about $2.75 per meter so you can't be too picky.

The clothing fabric was amazing. This fabric was just as good of quality that you would find in the states but must cheaper. There was silks, chiffon, crepes, and so many other things. The fabric that men make souqs out of was also there. I bought some fabric to make a skirt that, in the states would cost at least $15/yard instead was $7.75/meter.

Not a lot of sewing notions here, though. The thread that I found was not the quality that I am used to finding at home. Oh well, my thread will be here soon.

2008-01-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

January 10, 2008
Doha, Qatar

Ok, so I sent this email to my folks about getting the medical exam done and I thought it might be interesting. Before I put that in here I got to try some Lebanese food last night. It was good but it was so much food! I love the flat breads here. They are good for dipping in soups and dips. I am not a huge fan of hummas, but it was pretty good at the restaurant.

Went to the medical exam today. Let me tell you about it. First we were in the small van for about 30-40 minutes getting to the medical place. I think it was called The National Medical Authority, or something like that. The men were shown to one portion and the women to another portion of the building. So we walked in and then we went to a nurse who filled out a form and asked us is we were married or single. We then got in line to pay the QR 100. After we paid they gave us this form saying what we needed with our information on it. This form was scanned at every stop. We paid and they sent us to the blood drawing room. They had at least 2 rooms with 2 tables each for getting blood out. The lady had a hard time with me, she had to go out of the top of my right hand and it hurt. They weren’t able to get much and I almost passed out. They waved an alcohol swab in front of my face and made me lie down. After that they had a doctor escort me to the x-ray room so if I fainted I would be with someone. I changed into my white shirt, thank God I brought that!, and they took the x-ray. They stamped my form at both places. After I got dressed again after the xray I was done. The changing room was disgusting, like body order, which isn’t uncommon around here. I waited for another lady and was able to talk to 2 of the other ladies that came with us. One is from Dijon, France (like the mustard) and works for a nonprofit here, the other came with her husband and is looking for a job. The lady without a job is from Egypt and she taught be the numbers from 0-10 in Arabic, yes it is hard. I know the Arabic letters for the numbers too. After a little bit everyone came back out of the building and we headed back to campus. Inside the women’s side there were no men, not even doctors. A lot of the women wore the abyas (spelling?) with the ninja masks (that is what we call them). As a female, they had no problems touching me, which was interesting. They also put a Qatar Foundation sticker on the back of my passport with the TAMUQ logo on it. I guess that is so they know who my sponsor is in country. I should get the passport back soon. To do the paperwork I had to give up my passport until, well, when they give it back. It shouldn’t be too much longer.